Northrop Grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout

The Northrop Grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout is an unmanned autonomous helicopter developed by Northrop Grumman for use by the United States Armed Forces. The Fire Scout is designed to provide reconnaissance, situational awareness, aerial fire support and precision targeting support for ground, air and sea forces. The initial RQ-8A version was based on the Schweizer 330, while the enhanced MQ-8B was derived from the Schweizer 333. The larger MQ-8C Fire Scout variant is based on the Bell 407.

Design and development

RQ-8A

As the US Navy was withdrawing its RQ-2 Pioneers from service, it began to seek a second generation UAV. The Navy requirement specified a vertical takeoff & landing (VTOL) aircraft, with a payload capacity of 90 kg (200 lb), a range of 125 miles (200 km), an endurance on station of three hours at an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,100 m), and the ability to land on a ship in a 46 km/h (29 mph) wind. The UAV was to fly 190 hours before planned maintenance.

Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. The city is located in North Central Texas and covers nearly 350 square miles (910 km²) in Tarrant, Denton, Parker, and Wise counties—serving as the seat for Tarrant County. According to the 2014 census estimates, Fort Worth has a population of 812,238. The city is the second-largest in the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area (the "DFW Metroplex").

The city was established in 1849 as an Army outpost on a bluff overlooking the Trinity River. Today Fort Worth still embraces its Western heritage and traditional architecture and design.USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) is the first ship of the United States Navy named after the city.

Fort Worth is home to the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and several world-class museums. The Kimbell Art Museum, considered to have one of the best collections in Texas, is housed in what is widely regarded as one of Texas' foremost works of modern architecture designed by Louis Kahn and Renzo Piano. Also of note are the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, designed by Tadao Ando, and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, which houses one of the most extensive collections of American art in the world in a building designed by Philip Johnson. The city is also home to Texas Christian University, Texas Wesleyan University, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Texas A&M University School of Law, and many multinational corporations including Bell Helicopter, Lockheed Martin, American Airlines, Pier 1 Imports, Radio Shack, and others.

Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American global aerospace and defense technology company formed by Northrop's 1994 purchase of Grumman. The company was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world as of 2015. Northrop Grumman employs over 68,000 people worldwide. It reported revenues of $25.218 billion in 2012. Northrop Grumman ranks No. 72 on the 2011 Fortune 500 list of America's largest corporations and ranks in the top ten military-friendly employers. It is headquartered in West Falls Church, Virginia.

Business sectors

Northrop Grumman is made up of four business sectors: Aerospace Systems, Electronic Systems, Information Systems and Technical Services.

Aerospace Systems

Aerospace Systems, headquartered in Redondo Beach, California produce aircraft, spacecraft, high-energy laser systems and microelectronics for the US and other nations. This includes surveillance and reconnaissance, protected communications, intelligence, battle management, strike operations, electronic warfare, and missile defense to Earth observation, space science and space exploration. The B-2 Spirit strategic bomber, the E-8C Joint STARS surveillance aircraft, the RQ-4 Global Hawk, and the T-38 Talon supersonic trainer, are used by the US Air Force. The US Army uses Northrop Grumman's RQ-5 Hunter unmanned air vehicle, which has been in operational use since 1995. The U.S. Navy uses Northrop Grumman-built aerial vehicles such as the BQM-74 Chukar, RQ-4 Global Hawk based BAMS UAS, Grumman C-2 Greyhound, Grumman E-2 Hawkeye, and the EA-6B Prowler. Northrop Grumman provides major components and assemblies for different aircraft such as F/A-18 Hornet, F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the EA-18G Growler.

USS Fort Worth (LCS-3)

USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) is a Freedom-class littoral combat ship of the United States Navy. She is the first ship to be named after Fort Worth, Texas, the 16th-largest city in the United States.

Construction

The ship's name was announced 6 March 2009. This was after a long public relations campaign by United States Representative Kay Granger, former Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon R. England, and others. The ship was built by Lockheed-Martin. Her keel was laid on 11 July 2009 during a ceremony at Marinette Marine Shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin.

Fort Worth includes additional stability improvements to deal with issues found on the first ship in the class, Freedom.

The 80% completed ship was launched by its contractor on 4 December 2010. The vessel underwent sea trials in Lake Michigan during late 2011, with the completion of these trials announced on 24 October 2011. The ship successfully completed its acceptance trials, which also took place on Lake Michigan, on 4 May 2012. The inspectors found only ten severe deficiencies during the trials, an "exponential" improvement over Freedom.

Scout

A scout is a soldier performing reconnaissance and other support duties.

Scout may also refer to:

Aircraft

Automotive and rail

Professions

Land military

Space applications

Ships