Fire Scout unmanned helicopters will be ready for their first deployment later this year, paving the way to full-rate production, possibly before 2010. A story in the April issue of Seapower said two Fire Scouts will be aboard the guided missile frigate USS McInerney when it deploys with the Fourth Fleet to the Southern Command’s area of operations. The Fire Scout was designed for use on Littoral Combat Ships, but delays in that program prompted the Navy to test the system on a frigate. The Fire Scout, MQ-8B, provides intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance using electro-optical sensors, UHF radios and a data link to relay videos to a receiver station on a ship. The Navy plans to buy 168 of the aircraft, built in part in Moss Point, Miss. (Source: Seapower, April 2009)
