Enhanced Fire Scout Makes Flight Debut

MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle
The U.S. Navy’s MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle made its first flight this week, at the Webster Field annex of Patuxent River Naval Air Station, in St. Inigoes, Maryland.

The Navy’s vertical takeoff and landing tactical UAV (VTUAV) system was originally dubbed the RQ-8A, but during the summer of 2005, was re-designated to the MQ-8B to reflect the Fire Scout’s evolution toward an increased, multi-functional role. The test events described here mark the first flight of the enhanced variant.

During flight test, three events were conducted and executed as planned. Flight test one was a test of the command for launch abort functionality, calling for the operator to command a launch and immediately command an abort. This test ensured that the control logic would hold the aircraft on deck if it had not yet taken off.

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