SINGAPORE — The Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter continues to cut its teeth while operating onboard the third U.S. Navy littoral combat ship, or LCS, to go on a rotational deployment to Singapore as the deployment itself approaches its halfway mark.
Lt. Cmdr. Arlo Abrahamson, a public affairs officer with the U.S. Seventh Fleet’s Task Force 73, told Defense News that the Fire Scout has been "a very valuable and reliable platform that provides the mission commander with a variety of options for employing the air detachment onboard (the LCS USS) Coronado and has been utilized in nearly every operation and exercise since Coronado arrived in the Indo-Asia-Pacific."
The biggest change the introduction of the unmanned Fire Scout has meant for operations is that the crew now have to wear the "dual hats" of operating both the manned and unmanned helicopters, having "expanded our roles as individuals and expected to have additional training and additional time that’s divided between two different platforms," Lt. Cmdr. Sean Dougherty told Defense News.
The deployment of the Coronado to Singapore last October marked the first time the MQ-8B with the Telephonics Corporation's AN/ZPY-4(V)1 multimode radar has been involved in an LCS deployment, with previous LCS deployments to Singapore utilizing MQ-8Bs with only the FLIR Systems Brite Star II day/night Electro-Optical turret with a laser target designator fitted.
According to Naval Air Systems Command, the AN/ZPY-4 significantly expands the search area for the ship’s combat team with the ability to simultaneously track up to 150 targets and increase detection accuracy out to 70 nautical miles.
The Fire Scouts are part of an aviation detachment from the Wildcards of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 23 Detachment 4, which also includes a Lockheed-Martin MH-60S Seahawk multimission helicopter as part of the Surface Warfare mission package that’s on board the Coronado for the deployment to Singapore.
According to Dougherty, Air Boss of the Wildcards detachment onboard the Coronado, the primary role of the Fire Scout on this deployment is sea surface control, along with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The pilots of the detachment are qualified to fly both types of embarked helicopters while the aircrew fly in back of MH-60S or operate the sensor packages on the Fire Scout depending on the mission and tasking.
The Wildcards crew, like the rest of that currently serving on board the Coronado, are new to the region, having arrived in April to relieve the previous crew. Abrahamson says that they will now "continue to look for innovative ways to employ unmanned systems on our ships," adding that "the Fire Scout will remain a viable tool for our commanders in approaching the variety of missions that the LCS is tasked while operating in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region."
The USS Coronado and its two embarked Fire Scouts were on display at the recent IMDEX 2017 maritime and defense exhibition in Singapore, where trade visitors and naval delegations from around the globe had the opportunity to see the type up close. During the deployment to Singapore, the Coronado has conducted counter-piracy operations and flight operations in the South China Sea and participated in the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training, or CARAT, series of exercises with regional navies.
Mike Yeo is the Asia correspondent for Defense News.
