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Posted: September 18, 2014 11:04 AM
Triton UAV Arrives at Patuxent River for Testing
By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor
ARLINGTON, Va. – The Navy’s first MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) arrived Sept. 18 at the service’s aviation test center in Maryland. The transfer had been delayed by weather on the U.S. West Coast.
The MQ-4C, which first flew last year, will go through service test and evaluation at Naval Air Station Patuxent River before it is approved for fleet operations. Patuxent River also is the home of the Navy’s fleet of RQ-4 Global Hawk UAVs that form the Navy’s Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstration.
The Triton, built by Northrop Grumman, is a high-altitude, long-endurance derivative of the Air Force’s RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV. It is equipped with a multimode radar, an electronic surveillance measures system, an electro-optical/infrared sensor and satellite communications data links to perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. It will complement the Navy’s P-8A and P-3C maritime patrol aircraft.
The first Triton squadron, VUP-19, will be based at Naval Air Station Jacksonville and will deploy first to Guam in 2018.
Triton UAV Arrives at Patuxent River for Testing
By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor
ARLINGTON, Va. – The Navy’s first MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) arrived Sept. 18 at the service’s aviation test center in Maryland. The transfer had been delayed by weather on the U.S. West Coast.
The MQ-4C, which first flew last year, will go through service test and evaluation at Naval Air Station Patuxent River before it is approved for fleet operations. Patuxent River also is the home of the Navy’s fleet of RQ-4 Global Hawk UAVs that form the Navy’s Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstration.
The Triton, built by Northrop Grumman, is a high-altitude, long-endurance derivative of the Air Force’s RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV. It is equipped with a multimode radar, an electronic surveillance measures system, an electro-optical/infrared sensor and satellite communications data links to perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. It will complement the Navy’s P-8A and P-3C maritime patrol aircraft.
The first Triton squadron, VUP-19, will be based at Naval Air Station Jacksonville and will deploy first to Guam in 2018.