Fire Scout Scoring High Praise

I have been neutral on this system, but I'm now changing my position to positive.

Northrop Grumman Corp. announced on April 12 that its MQ-8B Fire Scout vertical takeoff and landing tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) marked a new single-day flight record of 18 hours.

U.S. Navy operators achieved the record using a single aircraft in a series of endurance flights Feb. 25 from the USS Halyburton (FFG 40). The composites-intensive Fire Scout is providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data to support anti-piracy missions while deployed on the ship for the Navy's 5th Fleet.

I'm ready for the Navy to give arm the bird up and see what it can do. It may be that the Navy is ready to do exactly that, because three MQ-8Bs are on their way to Afghanistan for a bit of real world trial by fire.

In the FY2012 defense budget, the Navy increased the number of MQ-8Bs being purchased over the FYDP from 31 to 57. In the field the system appears to be demonstrating that was a good decision.