Northrop Grumman's MQ-8C unmanned autonomous helicopter has completed precision sloped landing tests at a U.S. Navy base in California.

The testing of Fire Scout at Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, was to further validate the aircraft's capabilities in preparation for at-sea testing later this year.

"The sloped takeoff and landing tests are designed to be as real as it gets to actually operating on a Navy ship," said Capt. Patrick Smith, Fire Scout program manager at Naval Air Systems Command. "The autonomous MQ-8C Fire Scout system is able to precisely track and understand the roll and pitch of the surface which resembles at-sea conditions."

The MQ-8C is the latest variant of the aircraft designed for naval intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions and cargo resupply. Recent tests on the MQ-8C have consisted of electromagnetic testing, which assured compatibility with ship-based emitters such as radar, and an initial phase of dynamic interface testing, which focused on deck handling and communications networks.

The aircraft design is based on Bell's 407 helicopter with the autonomous controls of the earlier and smaller 8B variant. About two dozen of the 8Bs are to be deployed on U.S. Navy Littoral Combat Ships. The Navy is eyeing the C variant for use by special operations forces.

"The MQ-8C Fire Scout system is performing as predicted and as previously demonstrated during Fire-X testing back in 2011," said George Vardoulakis, vice president for Medium Range Tactical Systems, Northrop Grumman. "These tests enable a validation of our autonomous system and clear the way for dynamic interface testing onboard the ship."