Fri, Apr 18, 2003
Northrop Grumman Corporation's Integrated Systems sector
continued its successful flight testing of the U.S. Navy's RQ-8A
Fire Scout vertical takeoff and landing tactical unmanned aerial
vehicle in March with the first flight fully operated from the U.S.
Marine Corps' (USMC) S-788, a HMMWV-mounted ground control station
(GCS).
Conducted at the Webster Field annex of Naval Air Station
Patuxent River (MD), the flight fulfilled a key program test
objective of demonstrating Fire Scout operation by both U.S. Navy
and USMC ground control stations. (Fire Scout flew its first flight
operated by the Navy's S-280 GCS February 10.)
The S-788-operated flight was one of two Fire Scout flights
conducted on the same day. The first flight, a 20-minute
demonstration flight for senior U.S. Army aviation leadership, was
operated from the Navy's S-280 GCS. Less than an hour later, the
Fire Scout was launched for a functional check flight under the
control of the S-788 GCS. The back-to-back test flights marked the
first time that Fire Scout flights were operated from Marine Corps
and Navy ground control stations on the same day.
"The short turnaround time between flights and the ease of
switching from Navy ground control to Marine Corps ground control
provided a compelling demonstration of the robustness and
flexibility of the Fire Scout system design," said T. Scott
Winship, Northrop Grumman's Fire Scout program manager. "These test
results reinforce our confidence in Fire Scout's ability to provide
high-value support for critical Navy and Marine Corps
missions."
During
the Marine Corps-controlled flight, the S-788 GCS used its tactical
control datalink to uplink payload command and control to Fire
Scout and to downlink imagery. The ARC-210 datalink was used for
air vehicle command and control. Use of this command and control
software continues to reduce risk as the system is prepared to
qualify and test the tactical control system software during flight
test later this spring.
As in all previous Fire Scout flight tests, the USMC and Navy
test flights were fully autonomous missions that included vertical
takeoff, accurate navigation, full payload operation and return to
a predetermined hover point in preparation for landing, all without
operator intervention.
More News
The Industry Continues to be Rocked By Some Questionable Operations Recent investigations and a great deal of data has resulted in ANN’s SportPlane Resource Guide’s rep>[...]
Make Sure You NEVER Miss A New Story From Aero-News Network Do you ever feel like you never see posts from a certain person or page on Facebook or Instagram? Here’s how you c>[...]
Visual Approach Slope Indicator (VASI) An airport lighting facility providing vertical visual approach slope guidance to aircraft during approach to landing by radiating a directio>[...]
Airport Marking Aids Markings used on runway and taxiway surfaces to identify a specific runway, a runway threshold, a centerline, a hold line, etc. A runway should be marked in ac>[...]
Aero Linx: The Skyhawk Association The Skyhawk Association is a non-profit organization founded by former Skyhawk Pilots which is open to anyone with an affinity for the A-4 Skyhaw>[...]