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2020-06-14

Autonomous Fire Scout Flies High

The U.S. Navy, with support from Northrop Grumman Corporation, has commenced flight testing of the MQ-8C Fire Scout equipped with the Leonardo AN/ZPY-8 radar.

“The AN/ZPY-8 radar significantly increases Fire Scout’s detection and tracking of targets. The ability to simultaneously employ multiple modes supports U.S. Navy intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance requirements,” said Melissa Packwood, programme manager, tactical autonomous systems, Northrop Grumman. “This increased capability enables Fire Scout to extend ranges to meet emerging requirements.”

Persistent Situational Awareness

Fire Scout is a combat-proven, autonomous helicopter system providing real-time Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Target-acquisition (ISR&T), laser designation and battle management to tactical users without relying on manned aircraft or space-based assets.

There are two Fire Scout variants. The smaller MQ-8B Fire Scout has been deployed on multiple frigates and is currently deployed on a Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). MQ-8B Fire Scout has also deployed to Afghanistan to support counter-improvised explosive device (IED) operations. This system has completed more than 16,600 flight hours over 6,200 sorties. The Navy has integrated a multi-mode maritime radar on MQ-8B and tested an onboard weapons capability, the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS). The Fire Scout has also demonstrated the ability to operate concurrently with other manned aircraft while operating at sea.

The MQ-8C Fire Scout is the Navy’s next-generation autonomous helicopter. Its airframe is based on the commercial Bell 407, a mature helicopter with more than 1,600 airframes produced and over 4.4 million flight hours. Combined with the maturity of Northrop Grumman’s autonomous systems architecture, Fire Scout meets customer requirements for ship-based and land-based autonomous systems. It also has the ability to autonomously take off and land on any aviation-capable ship and from prepared and unprepared landing zones.

This enhancement increases range and endurance (more than double) and payload capacity (more than triple). The MQ-8C has completed developmental testing and is ready to deploy.

Operating out of Webster Outlying Field, Maryland, U.S., the MQ-8C’s first flight with the radar on occurred February 27. Testing began with several weeks of ground test prior to the first flight and continues to progress as the Navy and Northrop Grumman consider mission expansion opportunities for the platform.

Advantages of AESA Radar

Leonardo is a world leader in E-scan, also known as AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) technology, which uses a matrix of hundreds of tiny radar modules to ‘steer’ an electronic beam, rather than mechanically moving the radar to point at a target. Osprey 30 is installed on the U.S. Navy MQ-8C Firescout (where it is designated AN/ZPY-8) and on the Norwegian All-Weather Search and Rescue helicopter, the Leonardo AW101. The Osprey 30 radar was selected in part because it provides the needed coverage without moving parts or the need for a bulky external radome, all in a package light enough to fit on an MQ-8C Fire Scout.

Based around a flat-panel antenna design, Osprey is one of the world’s first lightweight airborne surveillance radars to be built with no moving parts. The launch customer for the radar was Norway, which has purchased Osprey as part of the country’s acquisition of 16 Leonardo AW101s for the NAWSARH programme (Norway All Weather Search and Rescue Helicopter). It has now 12 customers including the U.S. Navy.

Osprey’s flat panel design opens up the potential for installation on a long list of aircraft previously deemed unable to carry such a class of radar, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). In its configuration for NAWSARH, Osprey comprises three flat panels, one on the front of the helicopter and two at the rear, facing out at angles to create the 360-degree field of regard. Space requirements are minimal, and the helicopter’s belly is left clear, maximising ground clearance for challenging rescue landings on rough terrain.

Persistent 360-degree Field of View

Osprey also marks a world-first in providing a persistent 360-degree field of view in a lightweight package suitable for small platforms. It represents the latest in ‘E-scan’ technology, meaning that it uses electronic-only means to direct the radar beam – moving it from target to target in fractions of a second. Because of the speed of these changes in direction, the radar effectively provides simultaneous coverage in multiple directions.

With a Leonardo E-Scan radar, crews can lift off, scan in 360 degrees and almost-instantaneously detect, track and classify hundreds of maritime contacts, allowing crews to quickly task cooperating aircraft to deeply search an area of interest. Other E-scan advantages include extremely reliability, as the radar can continue to operate effectively throughout a mission even if a number of its individual radar modules fail. Customers in 30 countries have selected Leonardo’s E-scan radars. Osprey also provides an open architecture, meaning the U.S. Navy can insert new software independently.

Designed and manufactured in the UK at Leonardo’s Edinburgh site, Osprey was developed via inward investment from the company in radar technology and expertise. The radar will be sold alongside the company’s successful Seaspray family of E-Scan radars, which are in active service with the Royal Navy and with a number of export customers including the United States Coast Guard.

At the core of the AESA radar design is the ability to tolerate individual element failure. Component failures within the array result in graceful performance degradation rather than complete system failure, delivering high operational availability when compared with conventional radar systems. Its reliability and availability result in a reduced maintenance requirement and provides the option to reduce spares holding, resulting in cost benefits over the life of the system.

To date, Northrop Grumman has delivered 32 of 38 MQ-8Cs to the Navy, all of which will be retrofit with the AN/ZPY-8 radar. The MQ-8C achieved initial operational capability in June 2019 and is scheduled for its first deployment in 2021.

Reference Text/Photo:

www.northropgrumman.com

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