RQ-16: One Small Step for a UAV, One Big Step for FCS Class I
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Boeing, Britain/U.K., Contracts - Awards, FOCUS Articles, New Systems Tech, Other Corporation, Project Methodologies, T&C - SAIC, Testing & Evaluation, Transformation, UAVs

In October 2005, “Four FCS UAV Sub-Contracts Awarded” tended to focus on the larger Class II company and Class III battalion-level options, while a FOCUS Article covering the MQ-8B Fire Scout addresses the Class IV brigade-level UAV for the Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. The smaller “Class I” platoon-level UAV options were addressed only in passing, largely because that aspect of the program wasn’t yet at the same level of development. That has changed.
The FCS Class I UAV will be used for reconnaissance, security and target acquisition operations in nearly all terrain, including urban environments. Each system of 2 vertical take-off and landing air vehicles, a dismounted control device, and associated ground support equipment will be carried by selected platforms and dismounted soldiers, and will use autonomous flight, navigation, and recovery.
This is DID’s FOCUS Article for the Class I effort, which survived the 2007 reorganization of the FCS program. It’s now known as the RQ-16 T-Hawk. The USA and Britain continue to place orders, and ongoing research may even give them GPS targeting capabilities one day…
- The Class I MAV [updated]
- The MAV Program [updated]
- Contracts & Key Events [updated]
- Additional Readings [updated]
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