Northrop Grumman is to fly a company-owned MQ-8B Fire Scout Class IV unmanned air vehicle it calls Prototype 6 (P6) later this month, before it carries out in-flight testing for two new mission payloads.
The P6 maiden flight will take place at Webster Field near the US Navy's Patuxent River facility in Maryland. Initial flight tests will be followed by work with information and communication system company Telephonics in August, and a US Army-funded test of Northrop's airborne surveillance and target acquisition minefield detection system (ASTAMIDS) payload in September.
Northrop is to integrate Telephonics' RDR1700B radar into the MQ-8B, and could fly it at the US Army's Yuma proving ground in Arizona to show that the UAV can perform an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance role using the radar for wide area surveillance.
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© Northrop GrummanA Fire Scout UAV |
"In the fourth quarter there will be more work with Telephonics," Northrop unmanned system business development manager John VanBrabant said during the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International North America 2008 convention in San Diego, California.
The ASTAMIDS testing will also take place at Yuma, with VanBrabant saying the work is linked to the army's Future Combat Systems programme.
ASTAMIDS, which consists of an infrared sensor, processor and display station, is designed to survey minefields accurately from manned aircraft and UAVs, such as the General Atomics Predator and Alliant Techsystems Outrider.
Source: Flight International
