Project Development Began Less Than A Year Ago
A new vertical unmanned system dubbed Fire-X has been
successfully test flown by Bell Helicopter and Northrop Grumman.
Development and demonstration of Fire-X is funded by the companies,
which began work on this program in early 2010 and completed its
first fully autonomous flight at Yuma Proving Ground, AZ, less than
a year after development began on the project.
Fire-X Assembly
To get to the first unmanned flight, the team followed a strict
timeline to "power on" the vehicle in September at Bell's Xworx
facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Modifications were then accomplished
to convert the Bell 407 helicopter into an unmanned vehicle.
Additional flight tests and reliability data gathering will be
conducted next week along with a series of limited internal cargo
demonstrations. Integration and flight of intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) sensor payloads and cargo
carrying capability demonstrations are planned next year.
"The expertise of Northrop Grumman in unmanned systems combined
with Bell's rotorcraft knowledge is what makes Fire-X so
successful," said George Spongberg, Northrop Grumman Fire-X program
manager. "We've been able to share key insights throughout
development - allowing a seamless transition of autonomous flight
systems software to a new airframe." The Fire-X system integrates
the mature systems developed from the U.S. Navy's MQ-8B Fire Scout
program with the Bell 407 helicopter, a FAA-certified helicopter
that's been in commercial service since 1996.
Northrop Grumman Photo By Chad Slattery
The system is designed to carry ISR sensors and offer military
users with a useful load of more than 3,200 pounds - for fuel,
payloads and/or enhanced cargo hauling capabilities. Fire-X will be
able to conduct ISR missions up to 16 hours long and various cargo
missions in support of U.S. Marine Corps requirements.
"The first flight of the Fire-X demonstrator marks a milestone
for the Bell - Northrop team," said Charles Shepard, Manager,
Technology Business Development for Bell Helicopter. "In a matter
of a few months, we went from two separate flyable systems, to an
integrated system that will be able to provide our customers with a
flexible, low cost, rapidly adaptable unmanned rotorcraft for
multi-cargo, multi-sensor and multi-use from a ship and from
land."
A piloted ferry flight to Yuma was completed Nov. 30 to position
the aircraft for its first unmanned flight. The Fire-X
demonstration aircraft will still retain the ability to be
optionally piloted.