The MQ-8 Fire Scout: America's Unmanned Robot Helicopter 

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The autonomous fighter drone program for the US Mil is called Skyborg. They are just daring the future to happen.

Megaprojects idea: The floating airport of Kansai

1:50 - Chapter 1 - Unmanned aerial vehicles 2:55 - Chapter 2 - Technology 4:15 - Chapter 3 - The RQ pioneer 5:15 - Mid roll ads 6:40 - Chapter 4 - Early development of the MQ8 8:15 - Chapter 5 - Rebirth 9:10 - Chapter 6 - The MQ8B fire scout 10:55 - Chapter 7 - Operational history 13:05 - Chapter 8 - The MQ8C 14:25 - Chapter 9 - The future

"I'm certainly not suggesting that these unarmed autonomous helicopters are a precursor to the end of the world...but they are"

Want to know what happened to flying "cars"? Look at how people drive current cars. There'd be a car in every roof lmfao

Do the Chrysler T-8 nuclear tank!!

@4:05 Reminds me of Wile E. Coyote's many Acme purchases that backfired.

I was picturing fire scout as wildfire suppression. Any pilot will tell you how dangerous flying near one of those is. An unmanned option would be fantastic. (One capable of dropping fire retardant; but also drones that can find wildfires quickly and alert help before rampancy)

I remember that the original animated movie Ghost In The Shell featured an unmanned aerial drone copter that resembled this vehicle.

Still hoping to see Denver International Airport! The second largest airport in the world by land (though tbh King Fahd shouldn’t count since it has a third of the runways as DIA!)). It’s one of the busiest in the world and has some of the more unique architecture and interior design among airports. This is attempt 4 I think. At least in recent memory, since I know I've asked for this before. Not sure if it should be here or on Geographics though. Jeppensen would be a decent Biographics companion too since the terminal is named after him.

I'm thinking a group of these with a full sized helo, working as an anti-submarine hunter killer group. Arm them with some sort of air dropped weapon, like the sort of projectile launched by an ASW mortar. (they're relatively light, so you could carry several AND the sonar type gear.) The helo would have torpedoes, and could use an active dipping sonar or sonobouys to spot, and then "herd".a sub towards the FireScouts. Who could drop their ordnance right on top of it. Moving the fight way away from surface ships. Or just adding another layer to a fleet's ASW defenses.

I was onboard the Nashville during those landings - pretty cool event to watch from the flight deck camera!

It was USS Wisconsin's drone they surrendered to. It's now in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

even the least expensive civil drones can fly themselves home when the battery reaches a certain level or if they fly out of range of the controller. (i did fx work on the stallone dredd movie!).

Hi John from WI. My Cousin was in the Navy in 1964 on a Destroyer. They had one of the early Drones on it. Great idea. Except that allot of times when you sent it out, it never came back. Somewhere out there in the wide Pacific there is an Island that is loaded with drones. Somewhat like, The Island of Dr. Moreau. Just one more thing. The US Drone - AAI RQ-Pioneer looks exactly like the German (WWII) Glider A Ku-7 (See Picture Wikipedia - List of World War II military gliders)

Megaprojects idea: Simon's collarbone. All jokes aside, I hope you a complete and speedy recovery. That's one bone I havent broken...yet... Keep up the solid work, friend.

Project Idea: East Africa Locust Swarm Control and Eradication efforts. Truly "biblical" in size, scope and impact upon food production within the region.

i love the synth audio bumpers. such a sweet lil touch.

Do the Chinese's absolutely god awful aircraft carrier next

Suggestions for future videos. Us Marine Corp's unmanned K-Max, one the most bizarre looking helicopters around (it has two inter-meshing main rotors that look like an eggbeater) US Navy's QH-50 DASH, the anti submarine helicopter drone from the 1960's. Also pretty bizarre looking it had coaxial main rotors and no tail boom.

Can I suggest a Side Projects on the APKWS? It's a laser guidance package that is literally just screwed onto the body of a Hydra rocket...unscrew the warhead, screw on the guidance module, screw the warhead to the front of the module and viola, a laser guided rocket. No need to modify the launcher. Death from above has never BEEN more practical.

Your channels are one of the few i always search for a good video to watch while i eat lunch. Just sayyin.

Would the internet itself be considered a megaproject?

This is the representation I live for. My father used to fix the Pioneer and later Shadow, and I flew the Shadow during out stints in the Army

Megaproject idea: japanese I-400 aircraft carrier submarine.

Thanks again Simon for another great video. And yeah, as an 80's baby, what we were lead to believe our future would be has been a disappointment. I want my hoverboard and flying car! And I hope SKYNET doesn't become a thing with the rise of UAV's! 😑 Instead of using exclusively for military use, these should also be adapted for remote rescue operations.

can we perhaps have one done on the B-36? an absolutely massive plane with origins pre US Entry into WW2 and still the largest wingspan of a Bomber to date with 230 feet so 70 meters there are LIFE magazine photos of it sitting next to a B-17, B-29, and a C-47 and the differences for a plane that had its origins pre WW2 US Entry is absolutely amazing on another note you could use what it competed against the YB-35 and later on the YB-49 Jack Northrop's Flying Wing Designs that are the origins to the B-2 design pretty much

So as someone who hasn't driven in 16 years, all cars are self driving. It's not that bad.

errr. we had a handheld drone go down over Syria, in 2005... While we were deployed to Iraq.. The importance and push for us to recover our handheld platoon drone, was extreme..a lot of people were a bit upset..lmao- It landed in the back yard of a lady who did laundry.. 20 meters over the berm, thank goodness were recovered it under 12 hours. Was a crazy time being a platoon Sargent knowing my Marine, truly did not do it on purpose, the high winds took it, and the gps failed. . we watched it drift, it slow motion silent shock... I refused to use one ever since during that deployment.. amazing what they can do though.. those drones are amazing. unguided gps camera night and day etc.. amazing things. launched with a rubber band. a great assest to find bad guys hiding though.. and burying IEDs.. truly good to use.. saves lives.

Would love to see a megaprojects on the Mackinaw Bridge!

Please do Bagger 293! I believe it definitely qualifies as a mega project!

Dude, that closer, though. Someone was feeling their muse on that one. Heh, so much so that its poetry was a touch out of place on this otherwise very pragmatic episode.

At 4:47 the map is annotated in Lithuanian. Had to do a triple-take, lol.

I want my own personal battery-powered drone smaller than that (4-8 smaller rotors will have the same payload) that I can ride and land in regular parking lots when doing errands with a range of 100 miles per charge. Just tell it where to go and it does so on it's own. And I want it for the cost of less than a new budget car ($10-20k), get on that, before I lose patience along with my laziness and build it myself.

Lithuanian annotated map! 4:48 How cool is that lol

Prior to the Fire Scout was the radio controlled DASH unmanned helicopter that the Navy tried to use in the late 60's/early 70's. It was a system too far ahead of it's time and was dropped in favor of the manned SH-2F LAMPS helo (that I spend many years maintaining) then the SH-60B and MH-60R. Unless things have changed, the MQ-8's are operated alongside the MH-60R's in HSM squadrons.

This was excellent research material. Glad you're having fun doing your thing. The beard!!! It's glorious!

Simon, I want to compliment your research folks. I appreciate the depth and detail, and know the time it takes to gather and form it. You all have sent me on many tangents and deeper dives. Thank you from the top of my critical and curious heart LOL

I'm not sure if I prefer my glorious overlords to be human or machine.

Side projects idea: the different launch systems of aircraft carriers. The electromagnetic one looks to be rather interesting!

I like your videos so calming, a Drone that is the closest thing to sky net soo calming:)

Cool to see you cover this. My grandfather worked on the fire scout before he passed away.

A video about the french canal system would be great.

14:44 Dude, autopilot. Already here.

Keep up the fine work. Can you consider a show on the various jet fuels so often mentioned (e.g. jp4), their history, and their uses?

Drones like the MQ-9 Reaper are the real life aerial Hunter Killers from Terminator. Heck we have unmanned ground vehicles in the millitary so those are pretty much the tank Hunter Killers from Terminator.

I wonder if they fixed the altitude limitations the Kiowa has in mountainous areas like Afghanistan when building the MQ-8C. The single engine left a lot to be desired and made mission planning difficult since they couldn't perform nearly as well as more powerful rotorcraft like the UH-60.

Megaprojects Idea: A GIGANTIC military Boondoggle is the Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche. I worked at Sikorsky during the development of the RAH-66 and it was a cluster function of military bureaucracy and overengineering.

At 11:27 I swear I saw a tear fall from factboi's eye when he said the drone stopped a coke run...

1:02 that frame rate being nearly synced with the blades looks weird

Gave a thumbs-up for the Dredd reference. There is a solid trove of futuristic dystopian inspiration right there.

Given its recently entering the spotlight, how about covering the TB2 Bayraktar?

Wow that's tough. Don't give weapons to the machines! like, *DON'T* ! You do not want an oopsie with _that_ ... ;D

It's a remote controlled helicopter. We had those in the 80s. These are just bigger and have a longer range.

Can you do a video on the Chinook Helicopter at some point. It's a beast and would love to see you cover that.

To think the MQ-8 is already old tech now, it's been operating since 2000, current gen stuff is things like the Sukhoi S-70, Northrop Grumman RQ-180 and who knows what other off the books and classified stuff.

Megaprojects suggestion.. Can't remember off the top of my head.. Have you done the Ark Royal or Queen Elizabeth aircraft carriers?

Robotics hobbyists have been building fully autonomous model aircraft and helicopters for at least 15 years. But they aren’t armed.

Nice work. Remember all of that UAV activity passive or aggressive is a result of human input. That is the tricky bit.

Megaprojects Idea: Egypt's new admin capital

I'm waiting for the battalion's of ED209's to replace human armies on the ground with that iconic 10 seconds to comply and all hell breaks loose.

Great stuff! How about something on the Human Genome Project and where genetics are going? And then there's the metaverse.....

15:30 What is a "natural" machine? Are they RC cars that grow on trees?

I'm going to ask again. Can I please have a Megaproject on the F22 Raptor?

I'm still waiting for the worlds largest drydock.

Great job Simon

They were testing unmanned helicopters for resupply when I was in Afghanistan in 2011

As an RC enthusiast I'd love to get my hands on one of those smaller planes.

You missed the QH-50 in service with the US Navy from 1962 to 1969. They may be the first operational UAV's in history.

Do the Apache and the variations of the hellfire missile!

My dad was part of the liberation of Failaka Island and remember him telling him telling me about the POW’s surrendering to the UAV. It was called Operation Saber. They took on 100’s of Iraqi POW’s with handful of Marines. Failaka Island island is still completely under control of the Kuwaiti military since 1991 and non of the residents have been able to return.

How about a video of the disastrous maiden voyage of the Swedish kings flag ship ‘Regalskeppet Vasa’ in 1628? According to legends, it sank as a result of too many elaborate gold ornaments at the stern.

How about a mega projects episode (or side projects) on the osprey aircraft? Thanks for the great channels!

Can you do a video on unmanned submarines?

Hearing a British Czech resident try to comprehend the insanity that is the United States’ DoD’s purchasing R&D procedures is quite wonderful 😂 Danny could do business blaze of US military’s strangest contracts

First I wanted to say I love your videos, unfortunately I only subscribe to 37 of your channels.... obviously joking, I subscribe to all 43.... PROJECT IDEA: Not sure if this is "Mega" enough, but might be a good side project. I work in the OR, and robotic surgery is a fascinating story and there are many avenues to look into. I just taught a lecture on robotics in the OR, and I could have talked for hours about it. Might be a fun story for you, but there's my two cents (Yes, I'm from the States).

1:21 These unarmed autonomous helicopters... 1:36 rocket leaves the rail.

Megaproject idea, the 401 highway in Ontario Canada. Its the most congested and the largest highway in north America. Has the worst commute times in the entire world (on average over 2 hours) with in some sections over 12 lanes wide. It's literally the best/worst highway in the world. Its just ironic given how sparse people think Canada is. Make people in Los Angeles think they are on the Autobahn

Unmanned vehicles are the future of combat operations. Most of the biggest militaries in the world have goals set for replacing manned combat platforms with unmanned platforms by 2030/2035/2040. As impressive as unmanned aerial vehicles are, unmanned ground vehicles will be the big change as front line formations are replaced with unmanned vehicles. After all, why risk a life when you can just replace some hardware. Eventually this will reduce combat to a purely economic competition as the ability to create the best/most unmanned units will determine who "wins". At sea, unmanned sub surface vehicles will do the same thing. Imagine an unmanned submarine that can sit on the bottom at the mouth of any port in the world for months. Whether or not these weapon systems are ever designed with real AI is another question, but the future of combat seems clear.

I wonder if MQ-8's will eventually rescue Danny from the basement having destroyed the Dank Mega Beard, The Furious Knowledge Dome, Blaze Whistler Clones and their Complex? 🤔🤔🤔

Very cool drone wish I had one.

if hover boards were sold on the commercial market it could in theory be reverse engineered, but more likely emergency war strategies could be guessed at and planned against only when technologies that are ridiculously more fearsome and effective are produced, then lesser technologies like hover boards could be sold commercially

Can you please do a megaproject on the 400 series highway in Ontario Canada

You kidding? I'm ready for self-driving cars already. Humans can get distracted. Computers can't. As long as it's not a buggy, hackable version of MSWindows, running some kind of Adobe software.

A really interesting uav to research would be Australia's Loyal Wingman drone. It's a fully autonomous stealth fighter that's essentially a force multiplier for F-35s by acting as parasite fighters controlled from the F-35 cockpit

The first RQ-8 was based on the ancient Hughes 269/300, which was sold to Schweizer. A 300 was the first helicopter I ever flew in.

Do a video on the Bizmark

No not the coke! Damit Peter!

Megaproject, excellent 👌 Great video 📹

I think this is the first time you've mentioned my hometown on one of your channels. I'm originally from Moss Point, MS.

Megaprojects topic: The mine in Kiruna and how they move the entire city to expand the mine further.

when simon is an old man, "children, children, gather around, I need to tell you another megaprojects.."

Anyone notice we seem to be good at creating improved death and destruction, yet we're debating 'IF' we should spend money on child care. Gee aren't the 'new toys' great.

If you ask me, I am sure it is weird to be in a driverless car but they seem way better than the majority of the drivers we have on the road. I wonder if they would win those driver tests where a driver and spotter drive a route and get a score. That would be a cool proof of concept. Even though they have already put in 10 million miles of driving with 8 events all of which no one was killed and 3 are humans walking into stopped cars. See people can't even walk why should they be good at driving. Now let us be fair I am not including trained drivers that know how to drive.

Did you see the impressive display of drones at the Olympics opening ceremony? Now imagine each one of those drones carries a nail bomb and they are hunting for you.

Please make a video of the super tucano aircraft.

oh hey theres a photo taken at the 2019 Avalon airshow. I was there that year

How about the F16 been waiting for that one to appear on one of your channels

Do a ISRO space mega projects video..or Prithvi cruise missile development