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Northrop Grumman Testing MQ-8C Expeditionary Controls for Marine, Navy Missions
May 25, 2021 7:10 PM
Maintainers from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 (VX-1) analyze diagnostics from the MQ-8C Fire Scout on the flight deck of the Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Coronado (LCS 4) on June 21, 2018. US Navy photo
Northrop Grumman is testing a portable expeditionary control station that could help sailors and Marines operate the Navy’s unmanned helicopter from both at sea and ashore.
The contractor is currently testing its Mission Control Station Expeditionary (MCS-X) on the Navy’s MQ-8C Fire Scout, Lance Eischeid, Northrop Grumman’s program director for Fire Scout, told USNI News in a Monday interview.
China Will Freak: Robot Helicopters Are Coming to the U.S. Navy
Such an asset could bring paradigm-changing levels of survivability for approaching ship to shore craft, which could potentially be vulnerable to enemy fire while in transit.
The Navy is now arming its amphibious attack vessels with what could be called a robot helicopter, an unmanned helo-like autonomous drone capable of vertical take-off from a ship deck. The drone, which operates with radar detection and EO/IR cameras, can bring a new kind of support such as Amphibious Transport Docks, vital Navy platforms, often operating in Amphibious Ready Groups, which launch ship-to-shore Landing Craft Air Cushions (LCACs) to deliver weapons, equipment, and Marines for offensive attack operations from the ocean.
Israel Shipyards announced on 12 May that it has won a tender to supply Shaldag Mk V fast patrol boats to the navy of an East Asian country, which understands to be the Philippines. Janes The company said in a statement that the agreement ‒ .
The U.S. Navy just showed us how it could fight the Chinese fleet. With stealthy robots, sophisticated communications systems and powerful warships firing high-tech missiles over long distances.