JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - USS Halyburton, its two Fire Scout unmanned helicopters and Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron returned to Naval Station Mayport Wednesday after a seven-month deployment. The ship conducted numerous counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions in support of Operation Unified Protector, employing the MQ-8B Fire Scouts. MQ-8B operators set records for maximum altitude, range and endurance, with 438 hours flown by Fire Scout. One of the drones was lost over Libya in June and later replaced. The Libyan government has claimed its forces downed the remotely operated vehicle, but neither the Navy nor NATO will say what caused the MQ-8B Fire Scout to go down. (Sources: NNS, Florida Times-Union, 08/03/11) Gulf Coast note: Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.
NEWS: A digest of aerospace, defense and technology news from the Gulf Coast I-10 region
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Frigate returns with drones
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - USS Halyburton, its two Fire Scout unmanned helicopters and Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron returned to Naval Station Mayport Wednesday after a seven-month deployment. The ship conducted numerous counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions in support of Operation Unified Protector, employing the MQ-8B Fire Scouts. MQ-8B operators set records for maximum altitude, range and endurance, with 438 hours flown by Fire Scout. One of the drones was lost over Libya in June and later replaced. The Libyan government has claimed its forces downed the remotely operated vehicle, but neither the Navy nor NATO will say what caused the MQ-8B Fire Scout to go down. (Sources: NNS, Florida Times-Union, 08/03/11) Gulf Coast note: Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.