![\"NAVDRONECHOP\"](\"https:\/\/hcsblogdotorg.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/06\/navdronechop.jpeg?w=620\")
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On Jan. 14, 2014, USS Elrod<\/em> left her home port in Norfolk, Virginia for what, to outsiders, might have seemed like a routine six-month trip to the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n Carrying a detachment of four MQ-8B Fire Scout drone helicopters, the nearly 30-year-old frigate would visit various ports and train with America\u2019s allies, according to an official press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n Elrod<\/em>\u2019s mission was to \u201cadvance national security interests in Europe and Africa,\u201d the U.S. Navy explained when it retired<\/a> the aged warship a year later.<\/p>\n While off the coast of North Africa, Elrod<\/em>\u2019s crew kept an eye out for pirates, escorted the oil tanker Morning Glory<\/em> back to Libya after Navy SEALs freed the vessel from militant hijackers and helped rescue a group of refugees trying to make it to Europe in small boats.<\/p>\n What the sailing branch didn\u2019t<\/em> say was that Elrod<\/em> also sent its pilotless choppers on a high-stakes search for a top terrorist.<\/p>\n \u201cDetachment Two successfully completed more than 300 overland\u00a0\u2026 sorties\u00a0\u2026 developing [a] pattern of life for U.S. Africa Command\u2019s number-one target,\u201d officials from Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light 60 wrote in theirannual report for 2014<\/a>.<\/p>\n War Is Boring obtained a copy of the historical review via the Freedom of Information Act.<\/p>\n At the time, the squadron flew both SH-60 Seahawk sub-hunting choppers and the MQ-8 drones. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, the unit regularly sends teams around the world to support various missions.<\/p>\n The 2,000-pound Fire Scouts come equipped with a powerful infrared video camera and can also carry extra gear on small, side-mounted pylons. On average, the small choppers can fly for between four and five hours\u200a\u2014\u200adepending on what they\u2019re carrying\u200a\u2014\u200abefore needing to land and refuel.<\/p>\n