Northrop Grumman said it completed maritime sensor demonstrations using its MQ-8B Fire Scout tactical Vertical Unmanned Aircraft System (VUAS). Fire Scout was equipped with the radar from Telephonics, of Farmingdale, N.Y., and an Electro Optical Infrared system from FLIR Systems, of Portland, Ore. Northrop Grumman said the demonstration, which took place in October in the Chesapeake Bay from the Naval Air Station at Patuxent River, Md., highlighted the versatility of the unmanned helicopter’s modular payload architecture and its flexibility in integrating off-the-shelf payloads. "We understand the importance of providing the best design, development and production of unmanned systems. An important part of this service is to provide the tools to define and develop new concepts of operations that illustrate how we can successfully integrate both manned and unmanned systems," said Duke Dufresne, sector vice president and general manager of the Strike and Surveillance Systems Division for Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems sector.