Northrop Grumman's MQ-8B Fire Scout demonstrates interoperability with the Army's One System remote video terminal

A Northrop Grumman Corporation land-based MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Unmanned Aircraft System, designated P7, successfully demonstrated interoperability with the Army's One System Remote Video Terminal (OSRVT) at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., the week of November 23.

Fire Scout's OSRVT demonstration illustrates its readiness to support Brigade Combat Teams. Designed and produced by AAI Corporation, the OSRVT provides direct receipt of full-motion video and targeting metadata by capturing the Omni broadcast from UAS that are within a unit's area of operations.

This demonstration is one in a series to prepare Fire Scout for participation in the upcoming Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment (AEWE) at Fort Benning, Ga., in January and February 2010.

During AEWE, Fire Scout will perform many important Army UAS missions in support of the Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

"Working with the OSRVT team, we were able to integrate the sensor downlink from the Fire Scout into the rugged manpack system for display to the user," said Mike Roberts, chief engineer for the Class IV UAV at Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems sector. "This integration was accomplished quickly without making any changes to the Fire Scout's current datalink or air-to-ground interface."

"Fire Scout's vertical capability provides the Brigade Combat Team unprecedented situational awareness, precision targeting, communications relay and, as this mission illustrates, gets critical Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition (RSTA) immediately to Soldiers on point through the OSRVT," said Al Nikolaus, program manager for Class IV UAV at Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems sector.

"Fire Scout's ability to operate at low ground speeds ensures it can maneuver with the force to provide high, perch and stare; RSTA support in urban and complex terrain."

The OSRVT video and data system enables warfighters to remotely downlink live surveillance images and critical geospatial data. AAI recently demonstrated the OSRVT situational awareness architecture as a manned/unmanned aircraft teaming tool.