New Navy MQ-8C Fire Scout Drone Deployed & Ready For War – Will it Be Armed?

Video Above: Navy Connects Air, Surface, Underseas Drones

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

The Navy’s MQ-8C Fire Scout surveillance drone is soon to be ready for war, now that the drone has embarked upon its first deployment aboard the USS Milwaukee Littoral Combat Ship.

Operating in the region of US Southern Command, the helicopter-like drone has been conducting counter narcotics missions, identifying targets of interest and refining surveillance data for further prosecution, Capt. Eric Soderberg, MQ-8 Fire Scout program manager, recently told a group of reporters.

The Fire Scout completed an integrated ship training evolution in preparation for operational deployment, is intended to begin a Navy process wherein the MQ-8C Fire Scout deploys everywhere the LCS goes.

MQ-8C Fire Scout vs. MQ-8B Fire Scout

The MQ-8C Fire Scout is a larger, upgraded variant of the existing MQ-8B Fire Scout Unmanned Vehicles, which now flies from the LCS. The “C” variant is based upon a Bell 407 commercial utility helicopter but operates high-fidelity maritime sensors intended to hunt mines, search for enemy ships and of course send back real-time video feeds to ships about threats and objects of interest otherwise beyond visual range.

While the MQ-8B has performed well with surveillance and mine-hunting missions, the newer MQ-8C variant brings a host of unprecedented advantages such as longer dwell time over targets, expanded ISR capacity reaching beyond the ship’s radar horizon and greater endurance. The “B” Fire Scout, for example, operates with four-to-five hours of “on station” time, whereas the “C” expands that to ten to 12 hours, Soderberg said.