Aircraft
U.S. Army and Navy To Jointly Explore Future Unmanned Helicopters
The U.S.
Northrop Grumman’s Fire-X unmanned helicopter program, using the Bell 407, is one of at least three candidates for future U.S. Army and Navy requirements.
Northrop Grumman’s Fire-X unmanned helicopter program, using the Bell 407, is one of at least three candidates for future U.S. Army and Navy requirements.

The U.S. Army and Navy will coordinate their requirements for a future unmanned medium-range helicopter, officials said at the Unmanned Systems North America conference last week in Washington, D.C. Such has been the interest in unmanned VTOL systems that programs and requirements seem to have proliferated, leading to potentially duplicative and costly developments.

The Army has been defining a medium-range multi-purpose (MRMP) vertical-lift system for cargo transport and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). Its recent request for information (RFI) calls for two selected vendors to demonstrate concepts in Fiscal Year 2013, one of which would be awarded an engineering and manufacturing development phase the following year.