In first, Fire Scout drone helicopters being deployed to Pacific

The Navy will soon deploy unmanned surveillance helicopters to the Pacific for the first time, according to defense contractor Northrop Grumman.

Four MQ-8B Fire Scouts will be aboard the USS Fort Worth — one of several new fast, shallow-water vessels known as littoral combat ships — when it leaves San Diego later this year, Northrop Grumman Fire Scout project manager Tom Twomey said this week.

The ship’s deployment to the Asia-Pacific theater will mark the start of a continuous LCS presence in the region, according to the Navy.

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