MQ-8C“火力偵察兵”無人直升機(jī)

????能從航空母艦上起降的無人噴氣式戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)可能還需要幾年才能面世，不過美國(guó)海軍現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)列裝了第一批艦載無人直升機(jī)，而且第五批戰(zhàn)機(jī)已經(jīng)部署在阿富汗和非洲等地（其中一架于2011年在利比亞內(nèi)戰(zhàn)中執(zhí)行執(zhí)勤和偵察任務(wù)時(shí)被擊落）。美國(guó)海軍目前擁有約30架MQ-8B“火力偵察兵”無人偵察機(jī)，這款半自動(dòng)的無人機(jī)只有24英尺長(zhǎng)，目前沒有裝配武器，主要在全球執(zhí)行情報(bào)、執(zhí)勤、偵察任務(wù)。

????在本次海空天博覽會(huì)上，諾斯羅普格曼公司發(fā)布了下一代“火力偵察兵”系列的原型機(jī)模型，也就是所謂的MQ-8C。它的尺寸幾乎達(dá)到MQ-8B的一倍（它的機(jī)身借鑒自Bell 407民用直升機(jī)，后者的某些改款能容納７名乘客）。MQ-8C代表了未來戰(zhàn)術(shù)無人直升機(jī)的發(fā)展方向。對(duì)于正計(jì)劃把“火力偵察兵”與下一代瀕海戰(zhàn)斗艦進(jìn)行整合的美國(guó)海軍來說（事實(shí)上，美國(guó)最新的瀕海戰(zhàn)斗艦多多少少都要依賴一種可以垂直起降的戰(zhàn)機(jī)），MQ-8C在保持戰(zhàn)斗力的同時(shí)，也有望降低長(zhǎng)期成本。

????諾斯羅普格曼公司的戰(zhàn)術(shù)無人系統(tǒng)業(yè)務(wù)開發(fā)部總監(jiān)麥克?富科表示：“從負(fù)擔(dān)能力的角度看，無人機(jī)是一個(gè)非常好的選擇。”雖然無人機(jī)也需要軍艦上配備一個(gè)維護(hù)和操作團(tuán)隊(duì)，但像“火力偵察兵”這樣的系統(tǒng)與有人直升機(jī)相比，其重量一般更輕，燃油經(jīng)濟(jì)性也更好，可以騰出更多空間搭載更好、更精密的傳感裝置，可以根據(jù)現(xiàn)有商用零件進(jìn)行生產(chǎn)（如Bell 407民用直升機(jī)），而且從戰(zhàn)術(shù)上更不容易被擊落。如果２０１１年在利比亞被擊落的那架偵察機(jī)是有人飛機(jī)，那么相應(yīng)的成本可能會(huì)極高，甚至可能包括付出人的生命，而人命的價(jià)值是無法估算的。光是由于這個(gè)原因，“火力偵察兵”的價(jià)值雖然不算便宜（到２０１２年底，該項(xiàng)目共花去２８億美元），但仍然可能會(huì)繼續(xù)獲得美國(guó)海軍的支持。”

MQ-8C Fire Scout

????The Navy's first aircraft carrier-capable unmanned fighter jet is still several years away, but its first carrier-launched helicopter is already in service and on its fifth deployment in places like Afghanistan and Africa (one was even shot down over Libya in 2011 while conducting surveillance and reconnaissance during the civil war there). The Navy currently owns roughly 30 of these little 24-foot-long unmanned, semi-autonomous helicopters, known as the MQ-8B Fire Scout, which it currently uses as non-weaponized, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms around the world.

????At Sea-Air-Space, Northrop Grumman unveiled the first scale model of the next iteration in the Fire Scout series, the MQ-8C. At nearly twice the size of its predecessor (its airframe is borrowed from the Bell 407 civilian helicopter, which in some variations can seat seven passengers), the MQ-8C is a real glimpse at the future of unmanned tactical helicopter flight. And for the Navy, which plans to integrate its Fire Scouts into its next generation of combat ships (in fact, its new Littoral Combat Ships more or less depend on an unmanned vertical takeoff and landing vehicle), the MQ-8C is also a way of maintaining a capability while hopefully driving down long-term costs.

????"UAVs have a really good story from an affordability perspective," says Mike Fuqua, director of business development for Northrop Grumman's tactical unmanned systems. While they do require a shipboard maintenance team and operating crew, systems like Fire Scout are generally lighter and more fuel-efficient than manned helicopters, can devote more space to better and more complex sensor payloads, can be constructed from existing commercial components (like that Bell 407 airframe), and are tactically less vulnerable to boot. Had a manned ISR aircraft been shot down over Libya in 2011, the associated costs could've been extremely high -- up to and including the incalculable cost of human life. For this reason alone, the Fire Scout, though not inexpensive (total program cost stood at $2.8 billion as of the end of 2012), will likely continue to receive Navy support.