ARLINGTON, Va., 2 Feb. 2015.Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) experts at BAE Systems are developing an unmannedaircraft system (UAS) sensor payload able to look for submerged enemy submarines by detecting small variations in the Earth's magnetic field.
Officials of the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) in Arlington, Va., announced an $8.9 million contract to the BAE Systems Electronic Systems segment in Merrimack, N.H., for the High Altitude ASW (HAASW) Unmanned Targeting Air System (UTAS) program for the Navy Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol jet.
HAASW UTAS seeks to integrate a magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) and algorithms for use on an air-launched drone that the P-8A will use to detect and pinpoint enemy submarines.
A MAD instrument detects minute variations in the Earth's magnetic field. A submerged submarine represents a mass of ferromagnetic material that creates a detectable disturbance in the Earth's magnetic field.
The Navy's predecessor to the P-8A -- the Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion four-engine turboprop aircraft -- has a MAD sensor attached to the back that looks like a large stinger that protrudes backward from the plane's tail.
ARLINGTON, Va., 2 Feb. 2015.Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) experts at BAE Systems are developing an unmannedaircraft system (UAS) sensor payload able to look for submerged enemy submarines by detecting small variations in the Earth's magnetic field.
Officials of the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) in Arlington, Va., announced an $8.9 million contract to the BAE Systems Electronic Systems segment in Merrimack, N.H., for the High Altitude ASW (HAASW) Unmanned Targeting Air System (UTAS) program for the Navy Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol jet.
HAASW UTAS seeks to integrate a magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) and algorithms for use on an air-launched drone that the P-8A will use to detect and pinpoint enemy submarines.
A MAD instrument detects minute variations in the Earth's magnetic field. A submerged submarine represents a mass of ferromagnetic material that creates a detectable disturbance in the Earth's magnetic field.
The Navy's predecessor to the P-8A -- the Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion four-engine turboprop aircraft -- has a MAD sensor attached to the back that looks like a large stinger that protrudes backward from the plane's tail.
These high-altitude torpedoes are Navy Mark 54 lightweight torpedoes with add-n kits that enable the weapons to glide through the air to attack enemy submarines from long ranges and high altitudes.
Fixed-wing aircraft like the P-3 normally release conventional torpedoes from very low altitudes or with small parachutes to ease the torpedoes into the water gently.
The HAAWC ALA turns the Raytheon Mark 54 torpedo into a glide weapon. As the flying torpedo reaches the water, it jettisons wings and other air-control surfaces and takes on its original role as a smart torpedo that can detect, track, and attack enemy submarines autonomously.
The P-8A also is being designed to work together with the Northrop Grumman RQ-4N Triton Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) large UAS -- a maritime-patrol version of the Global Hawk long-range surveillance UAS.
One or more Triton UAS can detect and track hostile submarines from high or low altitudes, and the P-8A can look for submerged submarines and launch torpedo attacks from high altitudes. The MAD instrument-equipped HAAWC ALA drone will add to the new P-8A's ASW capabilities.
The US Navy is launching a competition to provide a new air-to-air radar to help the unmanned Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton detect other aircraft and avoid collisions.
The solicitation posed by Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) on 3 November comes a year after the Navy canceled development of an Exelis-designed sense and avoid system for the MQ-4C, a high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air system modeled on the air force’s RQ-4B Global Hawk.
The new competition is seeking a radar with less ambitious performance requirements. For example, the navy “expects” that the MQ-4C will receive data from ground radar as it approaches an airport, as air-to-air radars can be confused by ground clutter at lower altitudes.
The navy also is taking an incremental approach with the new sense and avoid radar for the MQ-4C. The radar design should be modular and scalable, the navy says, and capable of being improved as future operational and air traffic management requirements evolve.
The navy plans to filed the system with a “due regard” capability, a technological step under a full sense and avoid system, the navy says.
The navy plans to buy 70 MQ-4Cs, including five prototypes, under an $11 billion programme to monitor the vessels floating on or submerged beneath the world’s oceans and seas. It complements the manned Boeing P-8A Poseidon fleet, and together will replace the Lockheed P-3C Orion as the navy’s aerial look-out for submarines and other naval threats.
NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Maryland, Sept 23 (Reuters) - I mproved reliability of Northrop Grumman Corp's unmanned MQ-4C Triton spy plane means the U.S. Navy may buy fewer of the drones than the 68 it now has on order, a senior navy official said on Tuesday, a move which may result in lower revenues for the planemaker.
The Navy's goal is to have 20 of the huge drones available at any given time to use for five continuous "orbits" of maritime surveillance. It takes four planes to make up one orbit.
Rising reliability rates mean the Navy may not need as many of the high-altitude aircraft as first thought, said Captain Jim Hoke, who runs the Triton program for the Navy.
Northrop had no immediate comment on the matter.
Hoke said he was mindful of tough budget pressures facing the Navy and also had a team looking for other ways to reduce the cost of building and operating the Triton unmanned system.
The overall development program is slated to cost about $3 billion, Hoke said. The plane's design was based on the unmanned Global Hawk plane that Northrop builds for the Air Force, but the two planes have only about 20-30 percent in common, Hoke said.
The Navy aims to start early operational use of two Triton aircraft by the end of 2017, with the formal "initial operational capability" to follow about six months later when two additional aircraft are delivered. The date slipped due to budget cuts that slowed Northrop's production, Hoke said.
Each aircraft now costs about $100 million, but Hoke said the Navy hoped to drive the cost down by finding more efficient ways to build the planes in coming years.
Hoke said all new weapons programs were vulnerable during lean budget times, but demand for maritime surveillance remained strong. He said the BAMS-D demonstration aircraft that preceded Triton has been used in the Middle East for six years.
The Navy expects to award Northrop a small contract to buy certain components for the first low-production aircraft once the fiscal 2015 budget is approved, Hoke said. He said the number of aircraft in that first batch of orders would be determined as part of the fiscal 2016 budget deliberations.
The first of three Triton planes arrived at the base in southern Maryland on Thursday after completing its longest flight ever, a 3,000-mile, 11-hour journey from California.
Hoke said two more aircraft would arrive at the base in coming weeks. The planes are due to conduct about 2,000 hours of flight testing before it enters service in 2017. The second plane will have its first flight in California this week, Hoke said.
Hoke said he hoped to resume work on an Exelis Inc system that will allow the airplane to "sense and avoid" other aircraft before the end of the year, when he is due to retire.
The Navy halted work on the system last year after running into technical issues, and has been working closely with prime contractor Northrop to find a way to fix the problem.
Northrop's deputy Triton program manager Tim Kesecker said the company had pulled in experts from other divisions, and he was upbeat that agreement would be reached soon.
This week, for the first time, we will fly our unmanned MQ-4C Triton cross-country to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, where the “future of naval aviation begins.”
For months, our team, comprised of military, civilian and contractor personnel, has been doing a phenomenal job making sure every detail is in place for this historic day.
As a program manager, it is an extraordinary opportunity to see the team’s hard work come to fruition. Last year, I had the privilege of watching Triton’s first flight. Since then, I’ve observed tremendous success with our initial envelope expansion flight tests and now I’m anticipating its landing here shortly.
For me, my connection to this team and program goes well beyond my three years as program manager. In January 2006, I was serving as the final commodore at Wing FIVE in Brunswick, Maine. During that time, Wing FIVE executed the first-ever operational deployment of the Navy’s Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration Unmanned Aircraft System, now known as BAMS-Demonstrator (BAMS-D). While providing critical information to warfare commanders, BAMS-D also provided critical lessons learned for a future unmanned platform, then named BAMS. At the time, I didn’t anticipate the stake I’d have in the program someday.
Now, finally five years later, here I am getting ready for the arrival of that ‘future system’, now formally named Triton. I will be eagerly waiting the MQ-4C take off from Northrop Grumman’s California facility. As it makes its way across the country, flying high at altitudes in excess of 50,000 feet while passing through the southern U.S. border, the Gulf of Mexico, across Florida and up the Atlantic Coast and Chesapeake Bay, we will monitor and control the flight from our Navy System Integration Lab here in Pax River. In the early hours of the morning, our team will watch it land on the runway and taxi into its new hangar for the first time.
Triton’s arrival to Pax River marks more than a key milestone on the path to initial operational capability; it represents the tireless work and dedication of a collection of individuals with a common goal in mind: critical capability development and delivery to the warfighter. Teamed with its manned-capability counterpart, the P-8A, Triton will be a key component of the Navy’s family of systems to achieve maritime domain awareness.
Twenty UK military personnel are currently working with the US Navy’s Boeing 737-based P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft, with several of these also set to receive training on the service’s remotely-piloted Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton, the Ministry of Defence has revealed.
Minister for defence personnel, welfare and veterans Anna Soubry says 32 UK personnel are embedded with the maritime patrol aircraft capabilities of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA.
Of these, 12 are with units flying variants of the Lockheed P-3 Orion for the air forces of Australia (two), Canada (six) and New Zealand (four). The remainder of the personnel deployed as part of the MoD’s “Seedcorn” initiative are working with P-8 units at NAS Jacksonville in Florida (11) and NAS Patuxent River in Maryland (nine), Soubry says.
While UK personnel are retaining key maritime surveillance skills via the multi-year Seedcorn programme, they are also gaining experience in the use of advanced unmanned air systems, Soubry reveals.
One officer at the USN’s Patuxent River test site has already been qualified on the Boeing/Insitu RQ-21A Blackjack UAS, while “four are scheduled to train on the MQ-4C Triton during June-August 2014”, she says. Also referred to as the Integrator, the former is a more capable design than the Boeing/Insitu ScanEagle air vehicle now being used by the Royal Navy under an urgent operational requirement deal signed with Boeing Defence UK.
Two test examples of the Triton – a development of the high-altitude, long-endurance RQ-4 Global Hawk platform – are due to arrive at the Maryland base within the coming months, with the US service expecting the system to achieve initial operational capability during 2017. Australia in mid-March also confirmed its intention to acquire the MQ-4C to operate alongside its future P-8 aircraft.
The question of whether to acquire a replacement UK maritime patrol aircraft capability is likely to be a key part of the nation’s next Strategic Defence and Security Review, which will be conducted in 2015.
Soubry was responding to a parliamentary question by Angus Robertson MP, whose Moray constituency includes Kinloss: the former home of the Royal Air Force’s BAE Systems Nimrod MR2 fleet. The last of these were retired four years ago, while the replacement Nimrod MRA4 programme was cancelled in October 2010.
The Australian government would spend around 3 billion Australian dollars to purchase seven large unmanned aircraft for the country's border protection, local media reported Saturday. The aircraft would be primarily used for military purposes such as spotting enemy ships and planes in a conflict, but they can also be used to detect asylum seekers since the drone can search an area of 40,000 square nautical miles in a single mission.
Defense Minister David Johnston would soon refer to the cabinet for its first pass approval of 3 billion dollars for the seven U.S. made MQ-4C Triton, a maritime version of the Global Hawk. Johnston also attacked the former Labor government for withdrawing from the unmanned aircraft program in 2009 after spent 100 million dollars in the development of American company Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk drone program. "I was extremely disappointed," said the minister, quoted by The Australian newspaper. According to the plan, the seven new drone would be deployed in a air force base close to the southern city of Adelaide and will replace the current aging fleet of P-3 Orion surveillance planes.
Patrick H. 's insight:
La perspective de cette acquisition semblait pourtant s'être éloignée en septembre dernier avec des hésitations liées à la situation politique du pays :
San Diego January 6, 2014 – Northrop Grumman Corporation and the U.S. Navy have completed nine initial flight tests of the Triton unmanned aircraft system (UAS), marking the half-way point in a process called envelope expansion. During envelope expansion, the test team validates the aircraft's ability to operate at a range of altitudes, speeds and weights. The flights are taking place at the company's manufacturing facility in Palmdale, Calif. "Completion of envelope expansion will allow the test team to prepare for installation and further testing of Triton's surveillance sensors," said Mike Mackey, Northrop Grumman's Triton program director. The Triton test team accomplished endurance flights up to 9.4-hours at altitudes up to 50,000 feet. The aircraft also performed doublets, a maneuver that tests the aircraft's ability to recover from small perturbations in its flight path caused by turbulence. Triton carries a variety of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sensor payloads that allow military commanders to gather high-resolution imagery, use radar to detect targets, and provide airborne communications and information-sharing capabilities to military units across long distances. The Navy plans to field 68 Triton UAS and will be used with the manned P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to conduct surveillance missions. Triton completed its first flight May 22.
San Diego September 18, 2013 - The U.S. Navy will increase by 50 percent the monthly surveillance flights of a Northrop Grumman Corporation-built maritime unmanned demonstrator under a contract awarded Sept. 6. The contract will allow Navy commanders to keep closer tabs on activities in the ocean and coastal regions of the Middle East. Under terms of the $9.98 million award, the company will provide maintenance, operations and other support services to enable the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstration (BAMS-D) aircraft to fly 15 missions per month, up from nine missions per month in previous years. "The Navy planned a six-month demonstration of the BAMS-D aircraft in 2009 to test the maritime surveillance capabilities of the system," said Mike Mackey, Northrop Grumman program director for the Triton unmanned aircraft program that includes the BAMS-D. "That demonstration was so successful that the service has used them for more than four years now." Based on the Global Hawk unmanned air system designed for land surveillance, the BAMS-D systems were modified to work in a maritime environment. In April, the aircraft surpassed 10,000 flight hours. The BAMS-D aircraft regularly fly missions more than 24 hours long. Flying at high altitude, they can monitor and gather imagery from vast areas of ocean and coastal regions.
After avoiding high profile, expensive events such as the Paris Airshow, Northrop Grumman opted to become one of the principal industry sponsors at the 19th annual Waddington International Air Show, being heldJuly 6-7 at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire in the UK. Defense-Update reports.
The company will display here a full scale model of the MQ-4C Triton maritime surveillance drone it is building for the US Navy. There are several reasons for the appearance of the Triton here – the US Navy is seeking overseas basing for this drone, and Northrop Grumman is looking for new international markets for the aircraft, the UK is likely to be one of these markets.
For the Brits, the maritime surveillance capability of Triton could fulfil a capability gap created after the Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) were phased out in 2010 and development of a new generation MPA aircraft terminated under the Strategic Defence and Security Review.
In December 2012 Defence secretary Philip Hammond said the Libya campaign had shown Nato’s over reliance on the US, he added that using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) would be cheaper and less risky than developing a manned maritime surveillance aircraft. “It may be that we will move straight to unmanned reconnaissance vehicles that can do the task at lower cost and much less risk to the crew.” Hammond told members of the Parliament’s joint committee on the national security strategy.
Triton is the most advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance unmanned aircraft system ever designed for use across vast ocean areas and coastal regions. Triton is designed to fly surveillance missions of up to 24 hours duration and at altitudes of more than 10 miles, allowing coverage out to 2,000 nautical miles at a time.
The Navy plans to deploy its new MQ-4C Triton long-range surveillance unmanned aircraft to the Middle East in 2016, Rear Adm. Sean Buck, commander of the U.S. Navy’s Patrol and Reconnaissance Group, said Thursday in a call with reporters following Wednesday’s first successful Triton flight.
By then, the Navy hopes to have up to three of the Northrop Grumman aircraft to patrol the service’s 5th Fleet area of responsibility to replace the single forward deployed Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstrator (BAMS-D) currently in the region, Buck said.
“The intent is to introduce an operational orbit of Tritons in the fleet area sometime after,” he said.
The so-called initial operational capability will be later than Naval Air Systems Command initial 2015 IOC date and will include three of the four aircraft needed to have a consistent orbit over the region. For the Navy to have uninterrupted service, an orbit requires four aircraft. The current lone BAMS-D flies every third day.
The planned 68 Tritons, similar to the Air Force’s RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned surveillance aircraft, are specially designed to patrol maritime regions. Conceptually, the aircraft is designed to work with the P-8A Poseidon manned aircraft.
“Triton was envisioned to be a complimentary teammate to the manned Poseidon aircraft and to take about 30 percent of the traditional historic surveillance mission for the maritime aviation community,” Buck said. “It will provide the long dwell persistent stare in the maritime to support our fleet as the fleet is positioned and moves and projects any type of power in a particular area around the world.”
Tritons are anticipated to operate forward from Naval Air Station Sigonnella, Italy, Andersen Air Force Base, Guam and an undisclosed location in the Middle East, NAVAIR told USNI News on Wednesday.
Once Triton enters 5th Fleet, additional orbits will begin in 7th Fleet from Guam, then in6th Fleet in Sigonnella and finally on the continental U.S.
The Navy plans for a single Triton orbit to monitor up to 2,000 nautical miles at a time allowing U.S. forces access to real time radar, video and signals intelligence.
PALMDALE, Calif. –The Navy’s newest unmanned Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft platform, the MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), completed its first flight from Palmdale, Calif. May 22, marking the start of tests which will validate the Northrop Grumman-built system for future fleet operations.
During the 80-minute flight in restricted airspace, the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft, controlled by ground-based Navy and Northrop Grumman personnel, reached 20,000 feet altitude.
“This flight represents a significant milestone for the Triton team,” said Rear Adm. Mat Winter, who leads the Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons at Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. “The work they have done and will continue to do is critical to the future of naval aviation, particularly to our maritime patrol and reconnaissance community.”
The MQ-4C Triton provides the fleet with a game-changing persistent maritime and littoral ISR data collection and dissemination capability, said Winter. It will be a key component of the Navy’s Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force family of systems.
As an adjunct to the manned P-8A Poseidon, the MQ-4C Triton will be a major part of the military’s surveillance strategy for the Asia and Pacific regions. The Triton will fly missions for 24 hours at altitudes greater than 10 miles, allowing the system to monitor 2,000 nautical miles of ocean and littoral areas at a time.
The P-8A Poseidon is the Navy’s new multi-mission maritime aircraft being built to replace the P-3C Orion long-range anti-submarine warfare aircraft.
“When operational, the MQ-4C will complement our manned P-8 because it can fly for long periods, transmit its information in real-time to units in the air and on ground, as well as use less resources than previous surveillance aircraft,” said Rear Adm. Sean Buck, Patrol and Reconnaissance Group commander, who also witnessed today’s flight. “Triton will bring an unprecedented ISR capability to the warfighter.”
The MQ-4C Triton UAS will be based at five locations around the globe. Triton operators will disseminate data in real-time to fleet units to support surface warfare, intelligence operations, strike warfare and search and rescue
“Our goal is to mature the Triton UAS before supporting the Navy’s maritime ISR mission,” said Capt. Jim Hoke, program manager for the Persistent Maritime UAS office (PMA-262), which oversees the Triton program. “The data we collect the next few years is essential to certify the system for operational use.”
Flight tests will continue in California for the next several months before the team transitions the aircraft to Patuxent River in the fall.
Development of the U.S. Navy’s maritime variant of the Air Force’s Global Hawk, the Triton UAS Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) , will be delayed, senior Navy officials explained when rolling out the service’s FY 14 budget proposal.
About $25 million was taken from production of the system in the BAMS budget for fiscal year 2014 — and moved to fiscal year 2015 due to schedule changes, service officials said.
“The first year of production of RQ-4 Triton UAV (previously known as BAMS) was shifted from FY14 to FY15 due to schedule changes. Funding decreased to support transition into the test phase of the System Demonstration and Deployment (SDD) program,” said Lt. Courtney Hillson, a Navy spokeswoman.
While the Triton BAMS UAS is expected to bring great capability to the Navy, it may need a little longer development than initially expected, said Navy Rear. Adm. Joseph Mulloy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Budget.
“There are two technical issues in the airplane that are causing a delay in testing. First off, it has a unique double-tail rudder which is different on the Navy model. To get through that complex detail is taking a little longer on the design modules,” he said.
Secondly, integration work is still being done on the software on board the aircraft’s computer, he added.
“The Naval variant is designed to work with our P-8 and fly over the Pacific with a different set of sensors than the Air Force variant,” Mulloy added.
In short, it is taking a little longer than expected to engineer, develop and integrate the special maritime capabilities designed for the Triton. It is engineered to work in tandem with a manned fixed-wing surveillance aircraft called the P-8A Poseidon.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, expressed great enthusiasm at the Air-Sea-Space Exposition regarding the establishment of the first P-8 Poseidon squadron slated to deploy to the Western Pacific.
The P-8A Poseidon is slated to replace the P-3C Orion as a long range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft, according to the Navy.
Nevertheless, the Navy is gearing up for the first test-flight of its Triton UAS, a wide-spanning 47-foot long surveillance unmanned aircraft system equipped with high-tech, next-generation sensors able to conduct surveillance, reconnaissance and communications-relay missions over thousands of miles of ocean, service officials said.
The aircraft, which boasts a 130-foot wingspan and can reach altitudes of 60,000 feet, is engineered as a long-endurance surveillance platform, meaning it can stay in the air as long at 30 hours on a single mission, according to Navy figures.
The Triton’s first planned flight is part of an ongoing System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase, in place since the Navy awarded Northrop Grumman a $1.16 billion deal to develop the aircraft in 2008, an industry source indicated.
The Triton’s first planned flight is part of an ongoing System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase, in place since the Navy awarded Northrop Grumman a $1.16 billion deal to develop the aircraft in 2008, an industry source indicated....
The Indian Navy has earlier shown interest in acquiring six to eight of the maritime variants of the US high altitude, long endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) for extended ocean surveillance. The drones have been upgraded as the MQ-4C Triton maritime surveillance platform for the U.S. Navy, providing real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance over vast ocean and coastal regions.
The Global Hawk has been deployed by the U.S. in Japan, and the U.S. this week approved the sale of four Global Hawks to South Korea. Australia and Japan too have expressed interest in these drones, though Australia later backed out because of the high price.
If the deal goes through, it will be a huge force multiplier for the Indian military in carrying out round-the-clock surveillance of terrorist movements across the border or tracking suspicious vessels in the open seas. Apart from the UAVs, both sides are also working to conclude final negotiations of the $2.5 billion helicopter deal for 22 Apache attack helicopters and 15 Chinook heavy lift helicopters, sources said.
The US Navy has flown the second Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system (UAS), a maritime-focused derivative of the high-altitude, long-endurance RQ-4 Global Hawk.
The second aircraft enters the test campaign 17 months after first flight of the original prototype. The first aircraft in September completed a cross-country flight from Northrop’s UAS factory in San Diego to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.
The second aircraft will now be prepared to complete the same cross-country journey later this month.
A third test aircraft is being prepared to complete a first flight in a few weeks. The navy originally planned to fund the third aircraft, but lost the money in budget cuts. Northrop then decided to self-fund production of the third prototype.
Data gathered by all three aircraft will be used by the navy to make a decision on whether to launch production in Fiscal 2017.
The MQ-4C is based on the RQ-4C but includes a strengthened structure and wing de-icing equipment. It also carries a maritime surveillance payload, which includes a Northrop-built active radar and a receiver tuned to interrogate transponders carried on all commercial vessels.
The navy awarded Northrop the $13.5 billion contract to develop and build five test aircraft and 65 production aircraft.
The aircraft will serve as an adjunct to the Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft. The MQ-4C is designed to maintain continuous surveillance orbits over maritime areas from five bases spread globally, from Guam to Diego Garcia to Sicily and both the US east and west coasts.
PATUXENT RIVER, Md. (NNS) -- The MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) arrived at Naval Air Station Patuxent River Sept. 18 after completing its inaugural cross-country ferry flight, bringing the Navy closer to delivering this new capability to the fleet. This flight marked the transition from initial flight test, which established basic safety of flight, to testing that will demonstrate Triton's capability to perform operational missions in the maritime domain. "Today we brought Triton home to the center of research, development, test and evaluation for naval aviation," said Rear Adm. Mat Winter, who oversees the Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons (PEO (U&W)) at NAVAIR. "The testing performed here over the next few years is critical to delivering a capability that will provide our warfighter an unparalleled awareness of the maritime environment in locations across the globe." Winter, along with the flight crew and members from the Triton's Persistent Maritime Unmanned Systems Program Office Office (PMA-262), witnessed the historic landing at 7:53 a.m. During the approximately 11-hour 3,290 nautical mile flight originating from Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, California, facility, the Triton flew along the southern U.S. border, the Gulf of Mexico and across Florida via an approved instrument route. Operators navigated the aircraft up the Atlantic Coast and Chesapeake Bay at altitudes in excess of 50,000 feet to ensure there were no conflicts with civilian air traffic. "The coordination to bring the Navy's largest unmanned asset across the country was significant and involved many organizations," said Capt. Jim Hoke, PMA-262's program manager. "This phenomenal team executed the system's longest flight to date exactly as planned." Hoke said this perfect execution was no surprise to him since the system has exceeded performance standards during the course of the last year. Triton has completed 15 test flights prior to today's ferry flight, demonstrating its ability to operate at various speeds and altitudes.
The cost to develop Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC:US)’s reconnaissance drone for the U.S. Navy has increased by at least 25 percent, or $720 million, according to Navy estimates and congressional investigators.
As development costs have risen to at least $3.9 billion, the scheduled dates to begin production and then deployment of the Triton drone have each slipped by more than two years, according to a Senate committee.
The Senate Appropriations Committee said in its report on funding defense programs in fiscal 2015 that it “is concerned with the cost and schedule breaches over the past few years” and is “troubled by software development delays” for the 70-aircraft, $15.3 billion program.
That’s at odds with the assessment of Wes Bush, chairman and chief executive officer for Falls Church, Virginia-based Northrop. He told analysts on an earnings conference call last week that the drone program “is moving along very well.”
The MQ-4 Triton is based on Northrop’s Global Hawk unmanned aircraft. The new drone is designed to work in tandem with Boeing Co. (BA:US)’s P-8A manned maritime patrol aircraft to survey 360-degree swaths of ocean and terrain with radar and electro-optical and infrared sensors. It can fly 24-hour missions as high as 60,000 feet, with a maximum range of 9,950 nautical miles without refueling.
“Contract cost growth was associated with technical challenges associated with system integration and developmental testing prior to first flight in 2013,” Sean Burke, the Triton program’s deputy manager, said in an e-mailed statement. All of those issues have been resolved, he said.
Delays Outlined
The projected start of initial production has been delayed by 31 months to December 2015 from the original goal of May 2013. The target date to declare an initial squadron of the drones ready for combat has slipped to April 2018 from December 2015, according to Navy documents. The projected start of full-rate production -- the most lucrative phase for a contractor -- has slipped to January 2018 from December 2015.
Citing the delays and cost increases, the Senate appropriations panel blocked the Navy’s $37.4 million fiscal 2015 request for the early purchase of production parts and cut $60 million from the service’s $498 million research request.
“Northrop Grumman and the Navy are developing the world’s most sophisticated unmanned, broad-area maritime surveillance capability,” Randy Belote, a company spokesman, said in an e-mailed statement. “Before Triton enters its production phase, we are committed to ensuring that it meets or exceeds its performance requirements through a rigorous development phase. We are confident that the Triton program will enter” its initial production phase in 2016.
Navy Budgets
Continued delays and cost increases could subject the program to reductions or cancellation as the Navy struggles to pay for new classes of vessels, a replacement for the Ohio-class nuclear missile submarine program and its model of the F-35 fighter, all in a time of declining defense spending.
So far, the drone program’s setbacks haven’t triggered a notification to Congress that the program has exceeded cost thresholds established by the 1982 Nunn-McCurdy law, which submits a program to an intensive scrutiny and certification process to explain why it shouldn’t be canceled.
Burke said the Navy won’t discuss what financial penalties Northrop is incurring under its “cost-plus incentive fee” contract, such as lost or withheld dollars, because of the delays.
The Navy's MQ-4C Triton completed its initial flight test phase at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, Calif., facility March 13, bringing the unmanned air system one step closer to introduction to the fleet in 2017.
The flight testing, called Initial Envelope Expansion, is designed to measure the air vehicle’s performance under a variety of speeds and altitudes. The combined Navy and Northrop Grumman team completed this phase of testing in 13 of the 14 scheduled flights for the test.
"The system performed exceptionally well during flight test, which is a reflection of years of hard work and dedication by our team," said Capt. Jim Hoke, Triton UAS program manager. "Our job is far from over with fleet delivery still a few years away, but each of our team members should reflect on how far we have come and be proud of this accomplishment."
During IEE, the MQ-4C flew a total of 81 hours, reached a maximum altitude of 59,950 feet and executed 568 data points.
The Triton’s software and sensor systems are being tested separately on a surrogate aircraft. This includes a multi-function array sensor (MFAS), configured to function in a maritime environment.
After testing completion at Palmdale, the team has a planned maintenance period to prepare for the system's transition to Naval Air Station Patuxent River. The MQ-4C will take its first cross-country flight in the June/July timeframe, followed by the second test aircraft shortly after. Sensors will be integrated onto both aircraft before resuming flight test this summer.
As an adjunct to the manned P-8A aircraft, the Triton will cover more than 2.7 million square miles in a single mission. Its ability to perform 24/7 intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance with a range of 2,000 nautical miles will allow P-8A, P-3C and EP-3E aircraft to focus on their core missions, adding the capability the Navy's Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force.
Northrop Grumman et l’US Navy ont annoncé récemment avoir réalisé un total de neuf vols d’essai de leur futur drone de surveillance maritime MQ-4C Triton. Un état d’avancement qui semble traduire une grande prudence de la part des deux partenaires puisque le premier vol de l’engin a eu lieu le 22 mai dernier. Un deuxième exemplaire devrait rejoindre le programme d'essais en vol d’ici cet été, selon le constructeur.
Les essais, effectués depuis l’usine du constructeur à Palmdale en Californie, concernent uniquement l’ouverture de l’enveloppe de vol de l’appareil. Environ la moitié de ces essais ont ainsi été réalisée à la date d’aujourd’hui, selon Northrop Grumman. Viendront ensuite dans une deuxième phase l’installation et les essais des systèmes de mission.
Peu de détails ont été donnés concernant ces neuf vols, sauf de dire que le plus long d’entre eux a duré 9,4 heures et que l’appareil a atteint une altitude de 50 000 ft (15 000 m).
En plus des deux appareils qui participent à l’actuelle phase de développement et de démonstration (SSD), il était prévu de réaliser trois autres démonstrateurs plus avancés, désignés SDTA (pour Systems Demonstration and Test Articles - appareils de démonstration et d'essais systèmes). Le premier exemplaire est d’ores et déjà en production et un deuxième devrait suivre bientôt, selon le constructeur. Par contre, le financement du troisième appareil SDTA n’est pas encore assuré.
Enfin l’assemblage final d'un sixième avion, autofinancé par Northrop Grumman, est actuellement en cours à Palmdale.
Le MQ-4C est la version "marinisée" du drone HALE (haute altitude, longue endurance) RQ-4 Global Hawk, de Northrop Grumman. L'US Navy a exprimé un besoin pour 68 appareils, dont la capacité opérationnelle initiale est toujours prévue en 2017. Il sera utilisé en complément du nouveau P-8A Poséidon. Il emportera notamment le radar en bande X à antenne active MFAS dont les essais en vol sur un banc d'essais Gulfstream II ont commencé au mois de décembre 2011.
Northrop Grumman Corporation has completed more than 25 flight tests of the U.S. Navy Triton unmanned aircraft system’s (UAS) primary maritime surveillance sensor in preparation for its installation on the aircraft.
The company is conducting risk-reduction tests of the Multi-Function Active Sensor (MFAS) using a Gulfstream II surrogate aircraft off the California coast. The radar will provide the Triton UAS with a 360-degree view of ocean and coastal regions.
“Surrogate flights have allowed us to mature the MFAS radar’s capabilities and merge the data with information received from other sensors and equipment that will also be used on Triton,” said Mike Mackey, Triton UAS program director with Northrop Grumman. “By gathering this information in real and simulated environments, we can refine how an operator sees data while tasking the system in flight.”
The MFAS, an active, electronically and mechanically scanned array radar, is designed for maritime surveillance missions. It uses a combination of electronic scanning with a mechanical rotation, allowing the radar to spotlight a geographic area of interest for longer periods – increasing detection capabilities for smaller targets, particularly in sea clutter.
Triton’s full sensor suite will allow areas up to 2,000 nautical miles to be monitored at a time.
As prime contractor for the Navy on the Triton UAS program, Northrop Grumman is developing the system’s capabilities through 2016. The Navy’s program calls for 68 aircraft to be built.
Mackey said that recent successes have demonstrated how Triton will use the MFAS radar to spot and classify the ships it picks up. The MFAS radar data along with other onboard information will be provided to mission operators on the ground and directly to maritime forces.
”These development tests will demonstrate the range, resolution and speed at which MFAS can detect different targets. We will be well prepared to install MFAS on Triton once surrogate flight tests conclude,” said Mackey.
On May 22, the Triton UAS flew for the first time from Northrop Grumman’s manufacturing center in Palmdale, Calif.
The Triton UAS will replace the Navy’s aging patrol aircraft and is intended to work with the new P-8 Poseidon manned surveillance aircraft.
The Coalition has backed away from its earlier promise to fast track the acquisition of a Global Hawk/Triton UAV if elected to government on Saturday. In launching the coalition’s defence policy on Monday, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said the Coalition would now “consider closely the need for unmanned aerial surveillance vehicles” as part of a new Defence White Paper, a reversal on its previous promise to fast track such an acquisition.
“The acquisition of unmanned aerial vehicles will be dependent on the advice of the Chief of the Defence Force and service chiefs, as well as a clear cost-benefit assessment that demonstrates the value of these aircraft,” the Coalition’s Defence policy document reads.
“We believe there is merit in acquiring new state-of-the-art unmanned aerial vehicles – such as the Triton or equivalent capability. Australia lost its pre-eminent position in the Triton program and delivery schedule because of Labor’s ill thought-out decision in 2009 to delay this program [AIR 7000 Phase 1B] to 2022-23.”
Patrick H. 's insight:
Cette intention d'acquisition avait été évoquée au printemps dernier :
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 28 May 2013. In the same day that unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) experts at Northrop Grumman Corp. completed the first flight of the new Navy MQ-4C Triton maritime patrol UAV, Navy experts are making plans to upgrade the UAV's software.
Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., on 22 May awarded a $15.3 million contract modification to the Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems sector in Bethpage, N.Y., to upgrade the Triton's software from Windows XP to Windows 7.
The contract modification concerns the MQ-4C Triton Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) systems development and demonstration phase.
Also on 22 May Northrop Grumman experts completed the first flight of the Triton BAMS high-altitude UAV at the Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Palmdale, Calif.
Triton is designed to fly maritime surveillance missions for as long as 24 hours at altitudes of more than 10 miles to enable coverage out to 2,000 nautical miles, Northrop Grumman officials say. The UAV's suite of sensors can detect and classify different types of ships automatically.
The Triton will be a crucial component of the Navy's 21st century strategy for conducting surveillance of surface ship and submarine traffic in the vast Pacific and other oceans around the globe.
The Triton UAV will work together with the Navy's P-8 Poseidon manned maritime patrol aircraft. The P-8 is a Boeing 737 passenger jet modified for low-level surveillance and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions.
The idea is for the Triton UAV to conduct broad-area surveillance missions, and when it detects a target of interest it alerts a P-8 operating in the area to go in and take a closer look. The P-8 is equipped with air-launched torpedoes and other ASW weapons.
"Triton is the most advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance [ISR] unmanned aircraft system ever designed for use across vast ocean areas and coastal regions," says Mike Mackey, Northrop Grumman Triton UAS deputy program director.
Additional Triton flight tests will go from Palmdale to mature the system before being flown to the main flight test facility at Patuxent River NAS later this year. Northrop Grumman won a contract to develop the Triton UAV in 2008. Triton is a modified RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV.
Triton carries a variety of sensor payloads that enable military commanders to gather high-resolution imagery, use radar to detect targets, and provide airborne communications and information sharing capabilities to military units across long distances.
At 130.9 feet, Triton has a wingspan larger than the world's most common commercial airliner, the Boeing 737. Triton can fly 11,500 miles without refueling.
Northrop Grumman's Triton industry team includes Aurora Flight Sciences, BAE Systems, Curtis-Wright Corp., L3 Communications, Raytheon, Rolls-Royce, Sierra Nevada Corp. and Vought Aircraft Industries.
For the Triton software upgrade, Northrop Grumman will do the work in Hollywood, Md.; Bethpage, N.Y.; Rancho Bernardo, Calif.; San Diego; Salt Lake City; Stillwater, Okla.; Melbourne, Fla.; and Van Nuys, Calif., and should be finished by April 2014.
PALMDALE, Calif. -- May 22, 2013 -- The Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)-built MQ-4C Triton high-altitude unmanned aircraft successfully completed its first flight today from the company's manufacturing facility in Palmdale. Triton is specially designed to fly surveillance missions up to 24 hours at altitudes of more than 10 miles (16 km) -- allowing coverage out to 2,000 nautical miles (3,704 km). The advanced suite of sensors can detect and automatically classify different types of ships. "First flight represents a critical step in maturing Triton's systems before operationally supporting the Navy's maritime surveillance mission around the world," said Capt. James Hoke, Triton program manager with Naval Air Systems Command. "Replacing our aging surveillance aircraft with a system like Triton will allow us to monitor ocean areas significantly larger with greater persistence." A Navy and Northrop Grumman flight test team conducted about a 1.5-hour flight that started at 7:10 a.m. from Palmdale.
The Australian Ministers for Defence and Defence Materiel announced May 15 that the government of Australia will enter into a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) planning case with the U.S. Navy for the MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). The FMS planning case will help Australian defense officials assess the applicability of Triton’s capabilities to their high-altitude, long-endurance UAS for maritime patrol and other surveillance requirements.
According to a press release issued by Australia's Minister for Defence Stephen Smith and Minister for Defence Materiel Dr. Mike Kelly on May 15, "The goal is to provide long-range, long-endurance maritime surveillance and response and an effective anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare capability." Australia's interest in the U.S. Navy’s persistent maritime surveillance unmanned systems development dates back to 2007 when it participated in the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) UAS pre-system development and demonstration under a cooperative partner project agreement. "Our team is eager to partner with Australia on this FMS planning case involving the MQ-4C Triton UAS," said Capt. Jim Hoke, the Navy's Persistent Maritime (PMA-262) UAS program office here. "The development of a system based on the Triton UAS would significantly improve Australian and US capabilities in the region, enhancing our joint ability to respond to regional challenges, including humanitarian assistance and disaster relief." As an adjunct to the manned P-8A, the U.S. Navy's Triton will be able to cover more than 2.7 million square miles in a single mission. Its capability to perform persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance with a range of 2,000 nautical miles will allow P-8A, P-3C and EP-3E aircraft to focus on their core missions, adding to the capability of the Navy's Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force. Australia is a cooperative partner with the U.S. Navy in the development and production of the P-8A.
Patrick H. 's insight:
Cette intention d'acquisition avait été évoquée début mars :
For years it seemed certain that Australia would buy eight Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime aircraft, with a strong likelihood of supplementing them with seven Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton unmanned surveillance aircraft. With both types, the Royal Australian Air Force would have, in effect, an extension of the system that the U.S. Navy is developing in its Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program.
Now it looks like Boeing and perhaps General Atomics, builder of the Triton-rival Predator B, have more opportunities in the program, Air 7000.
The RAAF is quietly making a case for 12 Poseidons, arguing that eight would not be enough to cover the vast oceans surrounding the continent. And the unmanned requirement is now described as “up to” seven high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft, potentially reducing Northrop Grumman's opportunity. At the same time the air force sees an argument for a supplementary drone, possibly the Predator, to take on some of the electronic-intelligence missions that would otherwise fall to the Poseidons and Tritons.
The aircraft that need to be replaced—18 P-3C Orions updated to a local standard called AP-3C—are due for retirement around 2019, says a defense department spokeswoman. Keeping the Orions flying demands increasingly close attention. “The sustainment strategy for the Orion fleet has transitioned to a maintenance-intensive safety-by-inspection program, comprising targeted structural inspections and repairs,” says the spokeswoman. Despite the challenges, the aircraft are meeting requirements.
Although Australia chose the Poseidon in 2007 as the Orion replacement, the government is not due to approve purchase of the Boeing aircraft until sometime between the middle of this year and mid-2016. The decision on the unmanned aircraft is expected a little later, between mid-2015 and mid-2018, as part of a schedule that last year was advanced by 3-4 years. The change was made to “better synchronize” the drone with the introduction of the Poseidon—primarily anti-submarine aircraft—and withdrawal of the Orions, says the spokeswoman.
“Included among the peacetime roles for these assets will be surveillance of Australia's maritime approaches, with both the manned and unmanned capabilities operating in a complementary manner,” says the spokeswoman. While no further details on the concept of operations were divulged, it is likely that unarmed surveillance drones on patrol missions lasting more than a day will be deployed far into the Indian Ocean and will be the first to detect surface targets. They would then cue interception of the target by a Poseidon that might be loitering in the air or be scrambled from its base.
Alternatively, either aircraft could be cued by other sources of information, or could cue different ships or aircraft, exploiting information systems planned under separate projects. “Close coordination between Project Air 7000 and future information-system projects will be an essential enabler to the success of future aircraft systems,” says the spokeswoman.
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