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Fire Scout UAV Makes Autonomous Recovery The Northrop Grumman RQ-8A Fire Scout vertical takeoff and landing tactical unmanned air vehicle (VTUAV) has made its first landings directed by the UAV Common Automatic Recovery System Version 2 (UCARS-V2). The shore-based trials at Webster Field near Patuxent River, Maryland are in preparation for shipboard landings this fall. "We had no problems," said Northrop Grumman Fire Scout deputy program director Tim Beard. We discovered that the airplane could intercept the UCARS signal farther out than planned." The second-generation UCARS-V2 supplied by Sierra Nevada Corporation is to be used by the US Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard to guide UAVs back aboard ships at sea. Fire Scout program managers intend to have new software for the RQ-8A Tactical Control System flying by late July and plan ship approaches in mid-to-late August. Landings aboard the USS Denver (LPD-9) are expected in September. In June, the helicopter UAV made an autonomous landing at a predetermined spot after communications links between the air vehicle and its ground control station (GCS) were deliberately cut. "This is the very first time an autonomous unmanned air vehicle has executed that test plan," noted Mr. Beard. The RQ-8A can receive commands from its Ground Control Station via three ARC-210 UHF radios and a Tactical Common Data Link. The test saw the vehicle return to a programmed GPS coordinate with no communications to the GCS at any time during the recovery. The UCARs and autonomous landing demonstrations are tasks prescribed by the Navy's Fire Scout development contract. Outside the contract, Northrop Grumman is flying a four-bladed main rotor system on a piloted Schweizer Model 333 at the Schweizer Aircraft facility in Elmira, N.Y. Tests so are have demonstrated reduced vibration, and the new rotor system is expected to increase the payload and range of the UAV significantly. Flights on the unmanned vehicle are due to begin this autumn. The development team is also developing new rotor blades optimized for the four-bladed configuration. In another independent development step, the Fire Scout has flown with a General Atomics Lynx synthetic aperture radar in support of the UK Watchkeeper program. The SAR housed in a new nose section has so far demonstrated 1 ft imaging resolution, and will be further developed to achieve 4 in. resolution. It can also cue the electro-optical payload to specific targets. Northrop Grumman also plans to fly the Fire Scout with its own TESAR - Tactical Endurance Synthetic Aperture Radar and has constructed a weapons adapter for unguided rockets and laser-guided Hellfire missiles. Northrop Grumman has so far delivered three Low Rate Initial Production Fire Scouts and two Engineering and Manufacturing Development vehicles. The program has included two Ground Control Stations. The Senate has approved 2004 funding that may enable the Navy to exercise a follow-on LRIP option. |
