Even though the Navy has deleted plans to purchase 17 of Northrop Grumman’s [NOC] MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopters from its five-year acquisition plan, the ultimate fate of the program will largely depend on how the service proceeds with its plans for small surface combatant ships. The MQ-8Cs, which are a larger version of the MQ-8B Fire Scouts already deployed, are to operate off the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships (LCS). So far, the Navy has contracted for the production of…
