Fire Scout completes operational assessment

The MQ-8C Fire Scout has completed a three-week operational assessment.

The tests, at Point Mugu, California, "included 11 flights totaling 83.4 flight hours where Fire Scout was tested against maritime and surveyed land targets to assess system performance, endurance and reliability of the unmanned helicopter," according to a Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) news release.

The MQ-8C, which has twice the endurance and thrice the payload of the MQ-8B, has logged 427 flights and more than 730 flight hours to date.  Initial ship-based testing is scheduled to begin in fiscal year 2017.

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