The U.S. Defense forces are one of the biggest guzzlers of fuel, and you can bet that they are among the worst polluters too. All in the name of national defense of course. But things are gradually going green there too and it’s not only the color of the camouflage.
The U.S. Navy recently announced the successful test flight of the first unmanned MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Take-Off and Landing Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle at its base near Patuxent River, Md. It would have been routine except for the fact that the scout aircraft was powered by bio-diesel – a first for the U.S. Navy.
The Fire Scout is manufactured by Northrop Grumman and is fueled by a combination of JP-5 aviation fuel and plant-based camelina. The camelina mix cuts down carbon dioxide output by 75 percent when compared to conventional aviation fuel. Camelina is mainly cultivated in Montana and it seems to be the military’s aviation biofuel of choice. Camelina blends have been tested by the Air Force in F-22 Raptors while the Navy has used blends in seven different aircraft, including the high-profile Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron.
Use of camelina in a high-endurance scout plane is remarkable because of the benchmarks involved. The Fire Scout which is always unmanned is used for critical situational awareness, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting. It touches speeds of 115 knots, can remain airborne for up to eight hours and has a ceiling of 20,000 feet. It is capable of carrying Hellfire missiles, Viper Strike laser-guided glide weapons and the “Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS),” a laser-guided 70 millimeter folding-fin rocket, which the military sees as ideal for the modern battlefield.
More green changes are on the anvil for the defense forces. The Navy plans to deploy a “Great Green Fleet” by 2016. The Great Green Fleet will consist of an aircraft carrier and all of its escorts, also known as a Carrier battle group, powered entirely by non-fossil fuels. The Air Force is also planning on using 50 percent biofuels in its aircraft by 2016.
