Navy Fire Scout Gets Its Sea Legs, Completes First Autonomous Ship Landings

Northrop Grumman, PATUXENT RIVER: The U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman Corporation wrote a new chapter in naval aviation history Jan. 16-17, when two RQ-8A Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) completed nine autonomous shipboard landings on board USS Nashville (LPD 13) off the coast of Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. 
 
This test marks the first time a Navy UAV has performed vertical landings on a moving ship without a pilot controlling the aircraft. The RQ-8A is a test version of the newer MQ-8B Fire Scout being developed by Northrop Grumman for the Navy and the U.S. Army. The MQ-8B Fire Scout is the aircraft element of a complete system called the Vertical takeoff and landing Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV) system.