The U.S. Navy has transferred four MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopters to the U.S. Army’s Redstone Test Center for use as airborne testbeds for Army sensor packages. Flight testing is under way at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, and Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, in a transfer that avoids just over $70 million in procurement costs as the Navy retires its MQ-8C fleet by the end of fiscal year 2026.
The aircraft were provided with two Mobile Mission Control Systems, spare engines and associated support equipment. Redstone Test Center formally requested the package in January 2025, and the Navy approved the transfer in May. The aircraft and most equipment reached Redstone Arsenal by July 2025, while communications-security equipment, including radios, transponders and modems, arrived in July 2026.
Ground testing was completed in August 2026 before flight trials began at the two Army locations. The transfer and launch of testing took place within 14 months of the initial assessment request. Beyond the procurement saving, the arrangement is expected to reduce costs associated with research and development, test and evaluation, flight hours, data collection, contracts, equipment sourcing and manpower.
The helicopters had been intended for storage at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group in Tucson, Arizona. Their reassignment gives the Army an existing platform for sensor trials while providing aircrews with operating experience and maintainers with practical experience on the MQ-8C.