Rather than waiting for the U.S. Army to flight-test the Fire Scout vertical-takeoff unmanned aerial vehicle (VTUAV), Northrop Grumman is investing heavily in a test program of its own. The company’s impatience may well pay off—when the Army finally makes a decision about air vehicles for its new Brigade Combat Team Modernization (BCTM) program, Fire Scout will be ready to go.

The dissolution of the Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) and cancellation of the manned ground vehicle component has forced the Army to re-examine its requirements as it moves forward with the BCTM. In the case of the UAV piece of the modernization plan, the Army will field its Class I UAV (a small VTUAV weighing 50 lb.) in Fiscal 2011 and 2012. The next VTUAV to come online as part of the BCTM is a Class IV UAV—in this case, Fire Scout. The Army selected Fire Scout for the FCS in 2003, but brigade combat teams are not scheduled to field the aircraft until 2014, according to current requirements.

The Navy, on the other hand, is already flying its MQ-8B Fire Scout from the USS McInerney (FFG 8) on counternarcotics missions in the Caribbean. The service contracted with Northrop Grumman in 2004 to create a Fire Scout variant to use on the Littoral Combat Ship. The aircraft has executed 600 hr. of flight testing and 110 takeoffs and landings from the McInerney.

Subsequently, Northrop Grumman is not waiting for the Army to make its move. On Oct. 6, the company announced that its corporate-owned Fire Scout, dubbed White Tail, flew under the command and control of a new company-developed Stanag 4586-compatible ground control station (GCS). Stanag 4586 is the NATO interoperability standard for unmanned aircraft. The company flew the White Tail in late September at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., promoting the flights as having demonstrated the functionality of its own GCS. Future demonstration flights will also use the company’s GCS, including ongoing flights at Yuma in preparation for the Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment at Ft. Benning, Ga., early next year.

But the GCS is just one piece of Northrop Grumman’s multi-pronged investment strategy. Joe Emerson, the company’s Fire Scout Army program manager, says Northrop Grumman is partnering with platform manufacturer Schweitzer on investing in a new rotor. Adding payloads adds weight, and the “fastest fix is to change out rotor blades. It’s the first area we’re looking at,” says Emerson.

The sensor packages on the aircraft are only growing heavier, especially the Airborne Standoff Minefield Detection System (Astamids), which operates in a dual-payload configuration with the STARLite search-and-rescue system. The Astamids is unique to the Army, and weighs in at 75 lb., while the STARLite weighs about 120 lb.

Emerson also says the company is in the early stages of testing an inlet that would increase airflow through the aircraft to keep hardware cool.

The company showed off a pod on the White Tail parked inside the convention center during the annual Assn. of the U.S. Army show here in early October. An upcoming demonstration will have an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) deploying from the pod. The White Tail will take off after having dropped off the UGV and then command the UGV from the air. A resupply demonstration using the pod is also scheduled for January or February, Emerson says. And the aircraft has the potential to eventually carry weapons, with a universal weapons pylon mounting socket with an access door and quick release pin built into the sponson. A new fore and aft sponson structure would support a heavy centerline weapon or other payload.

Rolls-Royce is working on an engine for Fire Scout that would permit the aircraft to operate at higher altitudes with the same horsepower and increased fuel efficiency.

Emerson calls all these efforts “ongoing investments” watched closely by Northrop Grumman’s Army and Navy customers. The company is also working with the Army’s Research, Development and Engineering Command in Huntsville, Ala., on a program to replace certain parts of the aircraft with composite materials, which could save 64 lb., according to Emerson.

Image: Northrop Grumman