Fire Scout takes off from LCS

The Navy MQ-8C Fire Scout has taken off for the first time from a littoral combat ship.

The unmanned helicopter was launched from the LCS Montgomery.

"The flight took place off the coast of California during the second phase of Dynamic Interface testing, once again demonstrating Fire Scout's stability and safety while operating around the ship," a Northrop Grumman announcement said.

The MQ-8C made its first at-sea flight test from the guided missile destroyer Jason Dunham in December 2015.

"Fire Scout's successful testing aboard USS Montgomery and USS Dunham proves its capability to fly from multiple air-capable ships," said Capt. Jeff Dodge, Fire Scout program manager at Naval Air Systems Command. "We plan to have the MQ-8C Fire Scout deployed aboard multiple ships in the near future giving the fleet the persistent intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting asset they need."

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