Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. has been awarded a $108 million U.S. Navy contract for the procurement of 10 MQ-8C Fire Scout drones.
Work on the fix-price, incentive firm target contract will be performed in California, Alabama, Texas, Mississippi and various other locations. The job is expected to be completed in August 2019.
Naval Air Systems Command is the contracting activity.
Fire Scout is an unmanned helicopter system that provides intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, target acquisition, laser designation and battle management. It can operate from any air-capable ship or land base.
The MQ-8C is the larger of two Fire Scout variants. Its air frame is based on the commercial Bell 407 helicopter. The C variant's enhancements over the MQ-8B predecessor more than double its endurance and triple its payload capacity.
