America’s single combat casualty in Libya had no weapon for defending itself when it was shot down a heavy anti-aircraft weapon in late June. But that’s about to change.

After spending the last couple of months pursuing pirates in the Indian Ocean, watching over troops in Afghanistan, and soaring into a pro-regime stronghold in Libya, the U.S. Navy’s Fire Scout robotic helicopter is set to start test-firing rockets. By the end of next year, the drone will be totally weaponized, and ready to shoot back if it gets attacked.

It is one more step forward for the Fire Scout, the once star-crossed robo-copter that’s rapidly becoming a favorite tool of the Navy, despite years of uneven history and despite a newly released Pentagon test report which said the drone was missing its missions as often as it was completing them.

Eighteen months from now, if all goes according to plan, the Fire Scout is going to be once again on combat missions, this time, completely armed.