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By Bill Goldston |
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December 17, 2010 – Fire-X, a vertical unmanned air
system (VUAS) developed by Northrop Grumman Corporation
and Bell Helicopter, completed its first fully
autonomous flight Dec. 10 at Yuma Proving Ground,
"The speed which Fire-X was developed shows that a
low-risk, fast-track solution can be safely flown using
the proven MQ-8B Fire Scout's unmanned systems
autonomous flight architecture," said Paul Meyer, sector
vice president and general manager of the Advanced
Programs and Technology Division at Northrop Grumman
Aerospace Systems.
"We developed a VUAS that meets growing needs for cargo
and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR)
capabilities. We can now expand Fire-X's operational
capabilities to meet emerging |
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First
flight involved a short-duration hover to validate safe and
reliable autonomous flight. Additional flight tests and
reliability data gathering will be conducted in the coming
weeks. Integration of ISR sensor payloads and cargo carrying
capability test flights is set to occur early next year.
"The
expertise of Northrop Grumman in unmanned systems combined with
First
flight was accomplished in 11 months after development began. It
was achieved by integrating Fire Scout's proven autonomous
systems developed for the U.S. Navy with the highly successful
The 407
system can carry ISR sensors and a useful load of more than
3,200 pounds – for fuel, payloads and/or enhanced cargo hauling
capabilities – internally or externally. Fire-X will also be
able to conduct ISR missions up to 16 hours in endurance and
various cargo missions in support of U.S. Army and Marine Corps
requirements. The Fire-X demonstration aircraft will retain the
ability to be optionally piloted – a capability which may appeal
to military users because of its added operational flexibility. |