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The U.S. Navy has officially decoupled the Fire Scout vertical-lift UAV from the Littoral Combat Ship program because delays to LCS threaten to slow development and testing of the air vehicle, the U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman jointly announced at the Singapore Airshow on Feb. 20.
Fire Scout will now be integrated to another helicopter-carrying naval vessel, most likely a FFG-7 frigate, said Navy Capt. Tim Dunigan, VTUAV program manager at the Naval Air Systems Command, adding that other potential platforms include DDG-51 destroyers and LPD amphibious transport dock ships. U.S. Fleet Forces Command is expected to decide within the next 30 days exactly what type of ship will host Fire Scout, which is designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
"We will continue to fully support LCS as it has flight deck time available," said Dunigan. "But we now get to go to another ship."
According to the current schedule, the Navy will conduct technical evaluation of Fire Scout on the designated ship in the fall of 2008 and operational evaluation in the summer of 2009. Fire Scout is expected to reach Initial Operational Capability soon after that.
Dunigan stressed that the Navy remains committed to transitioning the four-blade MQ-8B Fire Scout to LCS, and will continue to support LCS Initial Operational Test and Evaluation efforts in FY11.
Fire Scout is designed to augment the Navy's manned HH-60 Seahawks. Each LCS is expected to operate with three Fire Scouts. One fewer Fire Scout will deploy on an FFG-7 frigate As part of its static display here at the air show, Northrop Grumman is showing a mock-up of Fire Scout, which is based on a Schweizer Model 333 manned helicopter. An actual flying prototype is on its way to the Asia-Pacific region, where it will be displayed to members of the Japanese navy beginning next week, according to Doug Fronius, Northrop Grumman program director for VTUAV Fire Scout Unmanned Systems.
The air vehicle will be placed aboard a DDG-class ship operated by the Seventh Fleet. The Navy/Northrop Grumman won't fly the machine but the Japanese will be allowed to kick the skids.
Fronius said that there's been strong interest in Fire Scout among the sea-faring nations of Asia, particularly Japan, Korea and Singpore. "We believe potential sales in the international market are well above 100," he said. "I think Asia-Pacific will be the second key market (for Fire Scout) because we believe that the procurement process will take longer and there is more competition in Europe."
The U.S. Navy has ordered 12 Fire Scouts, five of which are complete (it is the fifth that is going to Japan).The Navy has requested 168 Fire Scouts, though Fronius expects the final number of those actually procured to be around 130. The U.S. Army has also ordered eight, which will become part of its Future Combat System program.
Navy Fire Scout surveillance capabilities come from the Brite Star II EO/IR ball from Flir Systems. The Northrop Grumman-designed Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis mine detection system is also being developed. Not yet funded is weaponization of Fire Scout, though the UAV is expected to eventually be armed with a lightweight torpedo and 2.75-inch rockets.
It's been about two years since Fire Scout conducted actual sea trials, and that was with the earlier three-blade RQ-8A. The first sea-based testing of the MQ-8B will be later this year, said Fronius, adding that the ship from which Fire Scout will fly is yet to be selected.
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