The Navy dramatically upped the operational tempo of the Fire Scout unmanned helicopters during a five-month deployment aboard a frigate, demonstrating an ability to stay on targets of interest longer than had been previously done at sea.
Four Northrop Grumman [NOC]-built MQ-8B Fire Scouts were deployed aboard the USS Klakring (FFG-42) during the deployment that ended recently–the most of the rotary UAVs that have ever been stationed on a single ship.
That allowed the ship’s crew to use two birds to provide an average of 12-hour days on station to provide continuous intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance (ISR) operations, Capt. Patrick Smith, the program manager for Fire Scout at Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), said. It was the fourth deployment of Fire Scouts on a ship but marked first time they had reached such a high pace of operations.
“One of the major differences that we saw on this deployment was the inclusion of what we call dual air vehicle operations,” Smith told reporters recently. “The big item with that is that we were able to provide on station relief and actually control two air vehicles simultaneously while on station.”
The FFG-42 was operating under Africa Command in support of anti-piracy missions and to provide ISR.
At one point, the dual vehicle configuration provided 24 hours of continuous surveillance and the four Fire Scouts combined to log 500 flight hours, said Cmdr. Darrell Canady, the Klakring’s commanding officer. The Navy for the time being plans to keep deploying Fire Scouts on frigates but is looking at the possibility of fielding them on an Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) destroyer–possibly by the end of 2014, Smith said.
The Littoral Combat Ships are also designed to operate up to two Fire Scouts, depending on the mission module configuration of the ship and the needs of operational commanders, Smith said.
Meanwhile, the Navy is moving forward with plans to arm the MQ-8Bs with laser-guided rockets built by BAE Systems and known as the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS). The arming is taking place under an urgent requirement with live fire testing scheduled to take place in March in China Lake, Calif., Smith said.