Northrop Grumman
American aerospace
Follow Northrop Grumman on Notably News to receive short updates to your email — rarely!
| 2024 | The Navy will end operational employment of the MQ-8C at the end of Fiscal Year 2024. |
| October 2022 | The MQ-8B Fire Scout variant was officially retired from U.S. Navy service. |
| August 8 2022 | Northrop Grumman announced plans to move Antares rocket engine and structure production to the U.S. through a partnership with Firefly Aerospace, resolving manufacturing challenges caused by the Ukraine conflict. |
| February 2022 | Russia's invasion of Ukraine disrupted Antares rocket manufacturing, which previously relied on Russian engines and Ukrainian-manufactured rocket bodies. |
| January 1 2020 | Northrop Grumman reorganized its divisions, splitting NGIS and merging most of its sector into a new Space Systems sector. |
| June 28 2019 | The MQ-8C Fire Scout achieved initial operational capability, becoming fully ready for military deployment and operational use by the United States Navy. |
| October 13 2018 | Taiwan was reportedly cleared to purchase the MQ-8B variant, potentially becoming the first export country. |
| July 2018 | Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 concluded initial operational test and evaluation of the MQ-8C aboard the USS Coronado. |
| June 7 2018 | Northrop Grumman completed the acquisition of Orbital ATK, absorbing it as a new business sector called Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (NGIS) and expanding its involvement in the space industry, including Cygnus spacecraft construction and launch. |
| February 2018 | 23 MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopters were in active service with the U.S. Navy at this time. |
| 2017 | The MQ-8B was scheduled to receive the Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA) mine-detection sensor for use in littoral waters. |
| October 16 2016 | Littoral Combat Ship deployed to Singapore with two MQ-8B Fire Scouts equipped with Telephonics AN/ZPY-4(V)1 radar, enabling beyond the horizon broad area search and track capabilities. |
| February 2016 | The Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) was fielded on the MQ-8B. |
| November 20 2015 | Completed a 3-week operational assessment, logging 83.4 hours over 11 flights. |
| August 2015 | Northrop Grumman demonstrated the MQ-8C's endurance with an 11-hour flight. |
| April 29 2015 | Completed final developmental flight after 450 hours in 327 flights. |
| December 16 2014 | The MQ-8C began testing aboard a destroyer, executing 22 landings and recoveries in less than four hours. |
| December 5 2014 | A Navy MQ-8B successfully flew off the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bertholf for the first time, controlled from a station on the ship. |
| May 7 2014 | The RDR-1700B+ radar was first demonstrated on an MQ-8B. |
| April 25 2014 | Littoral Combat Ship conducted future concept of operations (CONOPS) for manned and unmanned helicopters, demonstrating collaboration between MH-60R and MQ-8B with surface warfare mission package. |
| February 12 2014 | The second MQ-8C made its first flight. |
| November 25 2013 | Northrop Grumman delivered the second MQ-8C to the Navy. |
| November 16 2013 | A BQM-74E drone accidentally hit the USS Chancellorsville during naval exercises, causing damage to the ship's superstructure and slightly injuring two sailors. The drone failed to turn away as programmed and instead flew directly into the cruiser while testing the Aegis Combat System. |
| October 31 2013 | The MQ-8C Fire Scout made its first flight for 7 minutes in restricted airspace at Naval Base Ventura County, with a second flight on the same day reaching 500 ft altitude. |
| September 24 2013 | The MQ-8C Fire-X delivered to the Navy turned on its engines for 10 minutes in preparation for first flight. |
| August 2013 | The MQ-8B surpassed 5,000 flight hours in Afghanistan, accumulating 5,084 hours in 28 months providing critical surveillance for U.S. and allied forces. |
| July 2013 | Northrop Grumman delivered the first MQ-8C to the Navy, with ground testing to ensure system functionality. |
| March 31 2013 | An MQ-8B completed its 600th deployed flight hour during its fifth sea-based deployment, marking the first deployment by Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC-22). |
| January 2013 | The Navy awarded a $33 million contract to Telephonics for the RDR-1700B+ radar. |
| December 30 2012 | The Navy issued an urgent order to install RDR-1700 maritime surveillance radars on nine MQ-8Bs. |
| December 1 2012 | The Navy's fourth Fire Scout detachment returned from a five-month deployment supporting anti-piracy operations for U.S. Africa Command, logging over 500 flight hours. |
| April 23 2012 | Northrop Grumman received a $262.3 million contract from the Navy to build the MQ-8C Fire Scout, including two developmental and six low-rate production aircraft. |
| April 6 2012 | Another Fire Scout crashed in Afghanistan, with an investigation determining the cause was a faulty navigation system. |
| March 30 2012 | A Fire Scout crashed off the coast of Africa after being unable to land on a frigate following a surveillance mission. |
| September 23 2011 | Naval Air Systems Command awarded Northrop Grumman a $17 million contract to outfit the MQ-8B with the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System laser-guided 70 mm rocket. |
| June 21 2011 | An MQ-8 from Halyburton was shot down by pro-Gaddafi forces during a reconnaissance mission in Libya. |
| May 2011 | Three MQ-8s were deployed to northern Afghanistan for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) purposes. |
| December 20 2010 | The unmanned Fire-X completed its first flight at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. |
| August 2 2010 | An MQ-8 became unresponsive during testing and entered restricted airspace around Washington, D.C., but communications were re-established and control of the aircraft was regained. |
| May 3 2010 | Northrop Grumman announced plans to fly a Bell 407 helicopter modified with autonomous controls, named Fire-X, to demonstrate unmanned cargo resupply capability to the US Navy. |
| April 3 2010 | An MQ-8 from McInerney detected a speedboat and support vessel engaged in cocaine smuggling in the Eastern Pacific, leading to the confiscation of 60 kg of cocaine and detention of multiple suspects. |
| January 2010 | The Army terminated its involvement with the Fire Scout, determining the RQ-7 Shadow UAV could meet its needs. |
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Northrop Grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout, Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout, Northrop BQM-74 Chukar & Northrop Grumman, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.