MQ-8B UAV to Receive New Radar

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The US Navy has been enhancing its fleet of MQ-8B Fire Scout UAVs with new radar systems.

Telephonics Corporation has received a contract for the procurement of the radars for the U.S. Navy. The deal is worth more than $23,5 million and is expected that work to be completed in September 2019. The contract, announced by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), provides for the procurement of AN/ZPY-4 Radar supplies for the MQ-8B Fire Scout Unmanned Air System for the Navy.

The AN/ZPY-4 radar systems are designed for maritime surveillance, tracking and classifying targets of interest in a wide range of applications including naval aviation, maritime police, border patrol as well as environmental and fisheries protection, according to defence-blog.com.

The systems are capable of tracking multiple targets and can be found on fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft as well as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), enhancing situational awareness. Modes include Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR), Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), weather detection and avoidance as well as Search and Rescue Transponder (SART) beacon detection.

The MQ-8 Fire Scout is an unmanned autonomous helicopter developed by Northrop Grumman for use by the United States Armed Forces. The Fire Scout is designed to provide reconnaissance, situational awareness, aerial fire support and precision targeting support for ground, air and sea forces.