MELBOURNE, Fla. - Northrop Grumman received Milestone "C" approval from the Defense Department for its Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA) system, designed to support Marine Corps amphibious assault operations. The system now enters low-rate initial production. COBRA is designed to detect and localize minefields patterns and other obstacles in the littoral zone prior to amphibious assaults. It will be carried aboard MQ-8B Fire Scout UAVs. (Source: Global Newswire, 04/27/09) Gulf Coast note: Fire Scouts are made in part at the Unmanned Systems Center in Moss Point, Miss.; two COBRA team members are Arete Associates of Niceville, Fla., and QinetiQ North America, which owns PSI of Long Beach, Miss.
