US Navy Orders Two MQ-4C Triton Drones

The United States Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman a $172.4 million order to supply two MQ-4 Triton drones.

The modification contract exercises options for the production and delivery of two MQ-4 Triton unmanned air systems for the Navy, one Navy main operating base, trade studies and associated technical and administrative data, the US Department of Defense said in a statement Thursday.

The MQ-4C Triton is a high altitude, long endurance drone devveloped under the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program. The system is intended to provide real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions (ISR) over vast ocean and coastal regions, continuous maritime surveillance, conduct search and rescue (SAR) missions, and to complement the Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. Its primary surveillance sensor is an AN/ZPY-3 Multi-Function Active Sensor (MFAS) X-band AESA radar, which is capable of a 360-degree field-of-regard, allowing a MQ-4C Triton to survey over 7 million square kilometres of ocean within a 24-hour period.