DOD clears Navy to launch planned $10B production run of Northrop's MQ-4C

摘要

The Pentagon's acquisition executive has approved the Navy's recommendation to begin production of the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system, paving the way for a contract award that launches a planned $10 billion procurement into the 2030s of the high-flying, broad-area maritime surveillance platform. On Sept. 22, Defense Acquisition Board Chairman Frank Kendall signed an acquisition decision memorandum that cleared the Navy to transition the aircraft program -- which adopts a system similar to the Air Force's Global Hawk for the sea service -- from engineering and manufacturing development to initial production. On Sept. 27, the Navy awarded Northrop Grumman a $255 million contract for three MQ-4C aircraft, the first batch of low-rate production systems. Congress authorized and appropriated $632.7 million in fiscal year 2016 to buy four MQ-4C aircraft with a unit flyaway cost of $115 million, according to the Navy's FY-17 budget request. Only three Tritons are being bought at the moment because the fourth aircraft was added to the Navy's FY-16 budget after the service began contract negotiations with Northrop Grumman for an initial production run that assumed three MQ-4Cs, according to Navy spokeswoman Jamie Cosgrove. The fourth aircraft funded in the FY-16 budget will be rolled into the second production run, also slated to be a three-aircraft buy, she said.