USS Freedom (LCS-1) Littoral Combat Ship Commissioning Highlights US Navy MQ-8B Fire Scout VTUAV

The U.S. Navy's MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Takeoff and Landing Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV), developed by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC), was prominently displayed on the flight deck of the USS Freedom (LCS-1) littoral combat ship during its commissioning on Nov. 8, 2008 at Milwaukee's Veteran's Park. The ceremony was attended by the Secretary of the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations, the governor of Wisconsin and numerous other military, governmental and civic leaders. Fire Scout remains onboard the USS Freedom as it now transits to Norfolk, Va. The USS Freedom will be homeported in San Diego.

The Fire Scout is a key enabler for LCS and will significantly contribute to its mission areas of mine counter measures, antisubmarine warfare and surface warfare with modular mission payloads as well as organic intelligence surveillance reconnaissance, targeting and communication-relay functions.

"Fire Scout VTUAV is proud to support the LCS community with the commissioning of USS Freedom," said Doug Fronius, MQ-8B Fire Scout VTUAV program director for Northrop Grumman's Integrated System sector. "Fire Scout is a mature system with modular payloads perfectly suited to support the wide range of fast, agile and focused LCS missions."

Northrop Grumman was also chosen as the LCS mission package integrator and helped complete the successful installation of the mission package computing environment into the USS Freedom. The mission packages, each of which integrate sensor, weapon and other systems such as Fire Scout, several of Northrop Grumman's mine countermeasures systems and products by many manufacturers, enable each LCS to be reconfigured for different missions within a matter of days.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a global defense and technology company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in information and services, electronics, aerospace and shipbuilding to government and commercial customers worldwide.