Fire Scout Controlled By Ship

In late August, preparing for shipboard suitability trials, a Northrop Grumman RPQ-8 Fire Scout vertical takeoff UAV flew from a shore base under the control of a ship underway. Commanded by a ground control station aboard the amphibious transport ship USS Denver (LPD 9), the unmanned helicopter launched from Ventura County Naval Base in California, flew for more than an hour near the ship, and recovered ashore. It flew a box pattern around the ship five to six miles offshore.

The demonstration flight exercised the Unmanned Common Automatic Recovery System Version 2 (UCARS-V2) -- the Navy's primary recovery and control system for UAVs operating in the immediate vicinity of a ship. Designed to support near-all-weather, day/night UAV operations, UCARS-V2 provides precise position information to the air vehicle during shipboard take-offs and landings.

The ground control station aboard the Denver ran Raytheon Tactical Control System software, a common architecture used to operate different types of UAVs and their payloads. The flight test also demonstrated the Tactical Common Data Link (TCDL) used to convey payload data to the ship. The TCDL is the US Navy's primary for the transfer of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance information from airborne platforms to shipboard terminals.

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