NORTHROP GRUMMAN recently completed a significant milestone in the production of Australia's first MQ-4C Triton high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft when the fuselage was mounted onto the one-piece wing. Rho Cauley-Bruner, Northrop Grumman Triton programme manager, said the company is "on schedule" to deliver the first Triton to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 2024 - the same time that the US Navy expects to achieve initial operating capability with its MQ-4Cs. Australia's Tritons will have the same configuration and "identical capabilities" to the US Navy examples, said Northrop Grumman, which "will allow the RAAF and US Navy to share data and maintain an unblinking autonomous intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting capability over some of the world's most critical maritime regions".
展开▼
