Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has successfully performed an engine run of the first U.S. Army MQ-8B Fire Scout Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), the Class IV Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) in the Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS), at the company’s Unmanned Systems Center in Moss Point, Miss.
“The engine run is a significant milestone for the FCS program. It marks completion of final assembly of the initial manufacturing phase of the first Army Fire Scout,” said Joe Emerson, Northrop Grumman’s FCS Fire Scout program manager. “We’ve been diligent in tracking our costs and meeting milestones such as this, which validates our commitment to quality, technical excellence, cost and delivery. We’re definitely looking forward to fielding this aircraft.”
The FCS Fire Scout has now completed the initial assembly process and will await delivery of mission avionics and sensors.
The MQ-8B Fire Scout has been flying under a Navy contract since December 2006, but this marked the first time aircraft operations were conducted at the Moss Point site. The engine run team consisted of Northrop Grumman employees and experienced flight test personnel from Moss Point, Miss., San Diego and Lexington Park, Md.
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Persistent surveillance is becoming a pressing requirement for US forces, spawning a number of programmes aimed at demonstrating unmanned air vehicles with endurance capabilities ranging from weeks to years.
The latest of these is the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) VULTURE programme to demonstrate the ability to keep a heavier-than-air UAV on station for more than five years.
VULTURE – which stands for Very-high altitude, Ultra-endurance, Loitering Theatre Unmanned Reconnaissance Element – is a complement to DARPA’s ISIS (Integrated Sensor Is Structure) programme to demonstrate technology for an unmanned airship capable of remaining on station in the stratosphere for a year or more.
DARPA has invited proposals for the VULTURE programme and plans an industry day on 7 June. The agency is looking for the capability to “deliver and maintain a 1,000lb, 5kW airborne payload for an uninterrupted period exceeding five years with a 99%+ on-station reliability”.
“VULTURE, in effect, will be a retaskable, persistent satellite capability in an aircraft package,” says DARPA in its fiscal year 2008 budget submission, which indicates the UAV will be solar powered, like the ISIS airship.
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Engine tests have been completed on the MQ-8B unmanned aerial vehicle that is a component of the U.S. Army’s ambitious Future Combat Systems.
Northrop Grumman said in a statement Tuesday the MQ-8B Fire Scout is now set to receive the mission avionics and sensors that will make it an airborne hunting dog that sniffs out and tracks enemy targets and then illuminates them with a laser rangefinder.
“The engine run is a significant milestone for the FCS program,” Program Manager Joe Emerson said in San Diego. “It marks completion of final assembly of the initial manufacturing phase of the first Army Fire Scout.”
Engine tests will continue at the Northrop facility in Moss Point, Miss., as new Fire Scouts are turned out. The Navy version of the UAV, which is part of the Littoral Combat Ship program, has been flight tested since late last year.
The Fire Scout is basically a small, unmanned helicopter with a range of more than 100 miles and the capability to transmit real-time imagery, targeting data and battle damage assessments back to brigade-level U.S. commanders. The aircraft was designated the Class IV unmanned aerial system for the Future Combat Systems program.
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It is a little past 8 a.m., a Canadian soldier has just been killed 30 kilometres away, and Capt. Tom Lee is fretting.
He has a tool that could save other Canadians now battling the Taliban, but the weather refuses to co-operate. Finally, the conditions are right, the engine on his unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) throttles up and the craft springs off its catapult mounted on the back of a truck.
One of Canada’s little-known fleet of spy planes is airborne over the Afghanistan desert.
“There are troops in contact,” says Capt. Lee briskly, using the military jargon for a firefight, “and I have to go.” Within minutes, the French-made Sperwer airplane just launched from a fenced compound within the huge NATO base at Kandahar will be beaming back video of the terrain below, and of Taliban movements in the Zhari district where the troops are fighting.
From a rocky start three years ago, such UAVs have become an almost indispensable part of the Canadian arsenal in Afghanistan, officers say.
They offer intelligence on Taliban movements, targeting for artillery and airstrikes and tips on the presence of civilians who should be avoided in those target areas.
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Years of experience combined with an “engrained culture of unmanned aerial systems employment” qualify the Air Force to serve as the Pentagon’s executive agent for mid- and high-altitude UAVs, according to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne.
Speaking Wednesday at the first annual 55th Wing ISR Symposium in Omaha, Wynne said such a move makes obvious sense, since the Air Force has “codified UAS deployment procedures across the current and future spectrum.” In addition, Wynne said he’d like to see unmanned systems tied operationally to the Air Operations Center (AOC) — an Air Force command element.
“The Air Force has stepped forward,” Wynne told a gathering of intelligence officers and defense contractor representatives. “It’s no longer about tactical or strategic, for only the ultimate target determines this. It’s much more about connectivity and the ability to harness information. Connectivity with space and air-breathing systems, language protocols, airspace control, identification of friend or foe, air defense – all fit into the air commander’s bucket.”
Wynne’s comments were hardly off the cuff — they support a wider Air Force campaign to take charge of all U.S. medium- and high-altitude UAVs. His direct subordinate, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley, revealed this new strategy March 5 in a three page letter that set Army officials on edge.
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Northrop Grumman said Thursday it had finalized a plan for testing its system for using unmanned aerial vehicles to watch the backs of U.S. naval task forces.
The aerospace giant said in a statement that it had dubbed its test bed “Head Start” and would demonstrate the capabilities of its Global Hawk UAV to monitor wide areas of sea for potential targets and threats, including submarines.
The project is part of the run-up to the contract for the Navy’s Broad Area Maritime Surveillance program, which will give naval units a persistent reconnaissance, surveillance and intelligence capability.
The expectation is that BAMS would be able to detect and identify objects on the surface, including not only missile-armed ships and small boats but also items as small as a sub periscope peeking above the waves. The use of an unmanned aerial vehicle such as the RQ-4N Global Hawk would provide a platform that can remain aloft longer than a manned patrol plane and also cover areas beyond normal radar range.
Head Start involves equipping a Gulfstream II business jet with the radar gear that Northrop would use as part of its BAMS offering. Northrop will use the aircraft as a test bed for end-to-end evaluation of the communications capabilities and interaction with a ground station located in southern Maryland.
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The engine on an unmanned aerial vehicle is started by Spc. Shaun Fennessy, power-generation equipment repairer, and Spc. Creighton Brahm, military intelligence systems maintainer/integrator, April 26 at Forward Operating Base Marez, Iraq. The two Soldiers are members of the UAV platoon, A Company, Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Bradley J. Clark, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs)
Blackanthem Military News, FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAREZ, Iraq — Soldiers from the unmanned aerial vehicle platoon, A Company, Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division constantly have their eyes on the battlefield.
“We have logged over 400 missions with a total of 2,000 plus hours,” said Spc. Jacob Vaughn, tactical UAV operator. “Our mission is a vital one. There have been numerous times we have saved lives. We are like a scout or sniper team. We play hide and seek with the enemy, but they don’t know we’re looking for them. They have no idea we’re there.”
There are many units that benefit from the assets that the UAV platoon provides.
“While forward observers can relay information via the radio, we provide visual information,” said Vaughn. “With us, you get to see what is happening on the big screen and every battalion [tactical operations center] has one.”
A lot of units take the UAV support they receive very seriously.
“There are some units that go out without us because they have to,” said Vaughn. “But there are a lot of units that won’t go out unless they know that the UAV is out there with them.”
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An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) used as part of normal security operations had a forced landing in Dili on 03 May 07 due to technical faults.
The UAV hit the side of a house during the landing and no one was injured. ISF engineers visited the area and assessed the damage in order to make appropriate repairs to the house.
The area was repaired with a yellow translucent plastic pannel, allowing light into the house and providing a better enviroment for the residents.
Operation Astute is the Australian Government’s response to a request from the Government of Timor-Leste to assist in restoring peace to their country.
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has deployed to Timor-Leste with a mission to assist the Government and the United Nations to bring stability, security and confidence to the Timorese to allow them to resolve their differences democratically and peacefully.
There are approximately 1000 ADF personnel currently serving in Timor-Leste. This force will remain in Timor-Leste continuing to provide a robust response capability to support the Government of Timor-Leste and the United Nations Police force.
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