Aircraft
Hardware Design Tested for Armed MQ-8B Fire Scout
Engineers inspect a rocket launcher attached to an MQ-8B unmanned helicopter at Webster Field Annex in Patuxent River, Md. (Photo: Navair)
Engineers inspect a rocket launcher attached to an MQ-8B unmanned helicopter at Webster Field Annex in Patuxent River, Md. (Photo: Navair)

The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (Navair) reported progress in arming the MQ-8B Fire Scout UAV, which will be the Navy’s first sea-based unmanned system to carry weapons. The command said its structures rotary-wing division and the Northrop Grumman Fire Scout team are “working briskly” at Webster Field Annex in Patuxent River, Md., to support an urgent operational needs request from Naval Forces Central Command. Final delivery of an operational system is expected by March next year.