Tag Archives: fire scout

Report: Single Keystroke Almost Destroys UAV

In a bit of sensationalist headlining, a few news articles noted the Defense Department report blasting the acquisition program of the Navy’s MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter.

According to a June 24 report from the Defense Department’s director of operational test and evaluation, the critical error came when the drone’s operator accidentally pressed the spacebar with a wire from his headset — launching the self-destruct mechanism on the vehicle.

As the articles later note, there’s no such thing as a single-button Read more

UAV Gets Lost, Flies to DC

According to the Navy Times, a US Navy UAV got “lost” and entered the restricted airspace around Washington, DC.

According to a Navy statement, the incident took place Aug. 2 when, about 75 minutes into a routine test flight, an MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter operating out of the Patuxent River test facilities in southern Maryland lost its control link with ground operators.

The aircraft then flew about 23 miles on a north-by-northwest course and entered the National Capital Region restricted airspace, part of the Air Defense Identification Zone surrounding Washington, D.C.

Most UAVs are programmed with “lost link” procedures that command the UAV into a preplanned flight profile if it loses contact with its ground station.  According to the article, an “anomaly” prevented this failsafe.