Integration of the Fire Scout Tactical Unmanned Aerial System Into Littoral Combat Ship Missions

<p>The purpose of this research is to determine if the Fire Scout unmanned aerial system (UAS) is an effective mission multiplier for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). The U.S. Navy relies heavily on unmanned systems such as the Fire Scout UAS to enable LCS to conduct several complex littoral missions. Additionally LCS must reallocate precious shipboard space for one of its manned helicopters to the Fire Scout UAS. Although UAS employment has spread rapidly throughout the U.S. military the gaps in capability between manned and unmanned systems need to be explored. By analyzing each LCS mission this study uses a comparative analysis of the task performance of the Fire Scout UAS and the MH-60 manned helicopter in order to identify where the Fire Scout system is complimentary to the LCS mission. This analysis also explores UAS integration issues along with future weapons and sensor capabilities requiring additional research.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p><br>