Role & capabilities
- Ship-based reconnaissance heritage
- Uncrewed helicopter operations
- Maritime sensor integration
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- Northrop Grumman
- Origin / production countries
- United States
- Other names
- No additional names recorded
- Variants / configurations
- MQ-8B; MQ-8C
- Operators / programme customers
- US Navy (historical; retirement/divestment context applies)
Evidence & current status
Navy budget documents confirm the divestment decision, not completion of every airframe transfer. The two variants are not numerically interchangeable.
Fire Scout was developed to extend ship-based reconnaissance using an uncrewed helicopter. The family includes the earlier MQ-8B and the substantially different MQ-8C, which incorporates the Bell 407 airframe. NAVAIR declared the C variant operationally capable in June 2019, describing it as an endurance and payload improvement over the B.
The current context is divestment rather than expansion. The Navy's fiscal-year 2026 budget material states that MQ-8B had been fully retired by October 2022. It also records the decision to divest MQ-8C and transfer remaining air vehicles to storage for eventual reuse or disposal. A budgeted transfer plan is not, by itself, confirmation that every individual aircraft has reached its final destination.
The family therefore remains in the catalogue as a historical and transition record. The C-specific on-station claim is not assigned to MQ-8B, and older deployment forecasts are not presented as present-day fleet plans. A final transfer or disposal inventory would be needed to close the remaining status detail.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | MQ-8C: Bell 407-derived uncrewed helicopter | C variant only; MQ-8B is a different airframe. Source ↗ |
| Launch / recovery | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Propulsion | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Dimensions | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Mass | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Endurance | MQ-8C: up to 12 hours on station, depending on payload | NAVAIR's 2019 claim is on-station time, not a guarantee for every mission. Source ↗ |
| Range | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Speed | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Altitude | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Payload | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Sensors | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Communications / navigation | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
Documented milestones
MQ-8C initial operational capability
NAVAIR records the Navy declaration for the C variant.
Read the announcement ↗
Publication history
- — Added in the September 2026 global coverage review, with sources, configuration limits and explicit data gaps.
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Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.