JAX AIR NEWS, NAS JACKSONVILLE, Thursday, April 22, 2010 5 --4 Photo by MC2 Alan Gragg The MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Take-off and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV) hovers over the flight deck of the guided-missile frigate USS Mclnerney (FFG 8). The embarked Fire Scout VTUAV was operated and maintained by a team from NAS Jacksonville-based HSL-42 Det 7, the Navy Fire Scout Program Office, and Northrop Grumman Corporation. Mclnerney recently returned to NS Mayport from the Eastern Pacific where it performed its final counter-illicit trafficking deployment to Latin America, prior to its decommissioning after 30 years of service. Fire Scout, 'Proud Warriors,' mark first drug bust From U.S. 4th Fleet Public Affairs during a routine test flight, an MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Take-off and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV) supported its first drug interdic- tion April 3 in support of guided- missile frigate USS McInerney (FFG 8) and a U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (USCG LEDET). An air vehicle operator (AVO) from NAS Jacksonille-based HSL- 42 "Proud Warriors" Detatchment 7 launched the embarked Fire Scout from McInerney to test functions and settings when it acquired a suspect- ed narcotics "go-fast" vessel on radar. The mission payload operator com- pleted testing and received permission to pursue. Over the course of three hours, Fire Scout, using its sophisti- cated optics and extremely small pro- file, was able to maintain an unprec- edented covert posture while feeding real-time video back to McInerney. Fire Scout continued to capture video of the go-fast meeting with a fishing vessel for what appeared to be a refueling and logistics transfer. McInerney and its embarked USCG LEDET moved in and seized approxi- mately 60 kilos of cocaine and caused the suspected traffickers to jettison another approximately 200 kilos of narcotics. Fire Scout was deployed on board McInerney in the Eastern Pacific since October 2009. McInerney and embarked HSL-42 Det. 7 were deployed for U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command (NAVSO) in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility conducting counter illic- it trafficking (CIT) operations in sup- port of Joint Interagency Task Force- South. The Fire Scout VTUAV was operated and maintained by a team from HSL-42 Det. 7, the Navy Fire Scout Program Office, and Northrop Grumman Corporation. NAVSO is the naval component com- mand for U.S. Southern Command and is responsible for all Naval per- sonnel and assets in the area of responsibility. 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The MQ-8B Fire Scout, a Vertical Takeoff and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV), returned to NS Mayport April 15 from its first operational deployment aboard guided-missile frigate USS McInerney (FFG 8). The ship completed a six- month deployment to the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) area of responsibility. Operated and maintained by NAS Jacksonville- based HSL-42 Det. 7, Fire Scout is an autonomously controlled helicopter used to scan waters for drug smugglers. AECS(AW/SW) Stephen Diets, the fleet liaison for Fire Scout and one of the first enlisted air vehicle operators (AVO), said, "Fire Scout has the advantage of being able to hover unlike traditional unmanned aerial vehicles." McInerney was the first ship to make a drug bust using a VTUAV with a drug interdiction April 3. Fire Scout was on a post-maintenance check flight when the operators spotted suspected narcotics smug- glers. "We got the first Fire Scout drug bust on the deployment, it was very exciting, and it's mostly thanks to all the hard work by the air detachment's maintainers," said Diets. "It's one of the Navy's newest systems, we brought it to bear on the mission, and it has challenged us to think in new ways to accomplish our goals," said McInerney Commanding Officer Cmdr. Paul Young. The ship's crew also shared in the excitement of the bust. "It's exciting to make a bust, when you stop the drugs and put people in jail it really defines our whole mission, it makes it all worth being out here, and this bust was groundbreaking," said CMDCM John Lawry, the ship's command master chief. While on deployment, Fire Scout was kept up and running thanks to the maintenance crew of HSL- 42 Det. 7, who served as McInerney's air sup- port. According to Lt. Tobias Walters, lead AVO with the "Proud Warriors," Fire Scout performed well dur- ing its first deployment. "I think the deployment was a success, we were able to operate in a shipboard environment and even got the first successful drug bust, I think we proved that Fire Scout is an asset that can bring the Navy success in the future," said Walters. Fire Scout can reach speeds of up to 85 knots, reach altitudes of 20,000 feet and fly for more than six hours on one tank of fuel. It has officially completed its first operational deployment and according to Walters, it is a technology that will integrate well with today's -and tomorrow's Navy.