Fire Scout training center opens

Fire Scout simulator. Northrop Grumman photo

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A new training facility for the Navy's Fire Scout unmanned helicopter opened Tuesday at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla. The Fire Scout Training Center will meet increasing demands for trained operators as the system is used more during deployments. New flight simulators were placed in the facility to improve training, incorporating lessons learned during the MQ-8B Fire Scout's recent land- and sea-based deployments. Typical training lasts about six weeks. (Source: Northrop Grumman, 07/10/12) Gulf Coast note: Fire Scouts are built in part at the Northrop Grumman Unmanned Systems Center in Moss Point, Miss.