Contract Gives Lift to Fire Scout

Bruce V. Bigelow2/23/09

Northrop Grumman said today the Pentagon has awarded a planned low-rate, initial production contract to procure three unmanned Fire Scouts helicopters developed in San Diego. The Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD, awarded the contract, which is not to exceed $40 million, under the Navy’s vertical takeoff and landing tactical unmanned aerial vehicle program. The work scheduled for completion in March 2011. As we reported here, the Navy plans to conduct a final technical evaluation of the Fire Scout program early this year, with operational evaluations expected sometime after that.

Bruce V. Bigelow is the editor of Xconomy San Diego. You can e-mail him at bbigelow@xconomy.com or call (619) 669-8788