Jay Clemens
Raytheon and the U.S. Navy have installed a mission control system for Northrop Grumman-built unmanned helicopter MQ-8 Fire Scout on a naval ship designed for littoral missions.
The Navy combined its control hardware with control software developed by Raytheon to produce the command-and-control system of Fire Scout aboard the USS Coronado, Raytheon said Wednesday.
USS Coronado is designed to operate near the shorelines and will be the first littoral combat ship to carry an updated Fire Scout MCS technology.
Capt. Jeff Dodge, Navy Fire Scout program manager, said the unmanned autonomous helicopter “provides the potential for multiple platforms to be controlled from a single MCS aboard the ship.”
Northrop designed the MQ-8 to support reconnaissance and precision targeting missions as well as help military ground, air and sea forces gain situational awareness of their operations.
The integrated drone platform from the Navy and Raytheon is based on an open architecture.
