LCS-4 to deploy with Fire Scout-plus

The Gulf Coast-built Littoral Combat Ship USS Coronado (LCS-4) is being outfitted with an MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle with a newly upgraded ground control system. Coronado is preparing for its first deployment - to Singapore. The Fire Scout system, part of the surface warfare mission package, was previously tested on USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) last year. Coronado's MH-60S helicopter and MQ-8B combo deployment will take on a different mode. It will be the “first of its kind” for Helicopter Sea Combat operations, HSC-23’s Lt. Cmdr. Evan Young said. It will include the deployment of the AN/ZPY-4 Fire Scout radar; and hoping to integrate Fire Scout and the MH-60S to act as a force multiplier, according to Young. Coronado was put through 10 days of training scenarios to simulate potential missions it may face across the U.S. 7th Fleet’s area of responsibility. (Source: USNI News 04/29/16) Gulf Coast Shipbuilding Note: USS Coronado was built at Austal USA shipyards in Mobile, Ala. It is the second in-class Independence variant of LCS.