MQ-8C Fire Scout
Country: 
United StatesManufacturer: Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman's MQ-8C Fire Scout is the US Navy's unmanned helicopter based on the Bell 407 airframe: 12 hours endurance, Osprey AESA radar, operates from Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) and Constellation frigates for reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare and targeting.
Northrop Grumman's MQ-8C Fire Scout is the US Navy's unmanned helicopter based on the Bell 407 airframe: 12 hours endurance, Osprey AESA radar, operates from Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) and Constellation frigates for reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare and targeting.
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Data trust
- Reliability
- Unverified
- Sources
- Sources pending review
Identity
- Designation
- MQ-8C Fire Scout
- Alias
- Northrop Grumman MQ-8B / MQ-8C Fire Scout
- Manufacturer
- Northrop Grumman
- Country
- United States
- Year
- 2018
- Category
- ISR (Reconnaissance)
- Class
- MALE (Medium-altitude / long-endurance)
- Status
- In service
Performance
- Range
- 278 km
- Endurance
- 12 h (MQ-8C)
- Top speed
- 260 km/h
- Service ceiling
- 5,200 m
- Propulsion
- Turboshaft Rolls-Royce 250-C47E, 559 kW
Physical characteristics
- MTOW
- 2722 kg
- Payload
- 320 kg
- Weapons
- APKWS II 70mm (testato), sonobuoy, jammer
Onboard systems
- Sensors
- Radar AN/ZPY-8 Osprey AESA, EO/IR MTS-8, AIS, ESM
- Datalink / control
- Tactical Common Data Link (TCDL) navalizzato
- Launch
- Decollo verticale (VTOL) da nave
- Recovery
- Atterraggio verticale su LCS, fregate, distruttori
Combat use
- ▸Afghanistan (2011-) — first MQ-8B combat deployment on USS McInerney
- ▸Libya (2011) — Operation Unified Protector
- ▸MQ-8C IOC (2018) — USS Jackson deployment in the Western Pacific
- ▸Indo-Pacific (2022-) — Osprey AESA radar with Independence-class LCS
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Main operators
History
The MQ-8B (based on the Schweizer 333) flew in 2002 and was used in Afghanistan and Libya. The larger MQ-8C (Bell 407 airframe) reached IOC in 2018.
Deployed since 2021 on Independence-class LCS paired with MH-60R helicopters, in 2022 it completed the first operational deployment with the AN/ZPY-8 Osprey radar in the Western Pacific.
On the development side, the Northrop Grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout is the first operational unmanned helicopter (VTUAV) in US Navy service: the initial MQ-8B was based on the Schweizer 333, while the current MQ-8C uses the commercial Bell 407 airframe, tripling endurance and payload.
On the littoral-warfare front, the Fire Scout is the key to organic ISR for Independence-class Littoral Combat Ships and the future Constellation-class frigates: it integrates the Leonardo AN/ZPY-8 Osprey AESA radar, the first synthetic-aperture naval MTI ever fielded on a VTUAV.
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