The US Navy has sent a squadron of MQ-4C Triton strategic drones to Guam after achieving initial combat readiness
Northrop Grumman recently announced that the MQ-4C Triton drones delivered to the US Navy have reached initial operational capability. The military service has since deployed the drones to the island of Guam.
Here's What We Know
The US Navy has a squadron of five unmanned aerial vehicles. Previous deployments lasted from May 2020 to October 20232, when Triton were on early operational readiness.
The @USNavy's MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), as part of the "Big Red" of VUP-19, arrived on @36FSS, for its 2nd deployment in the Pacific theatre.
- flynavy (@flynavy) September 14, 2023
Please visit: https://t.co/qry0FEOmlf@USPacificFleet, @COMNAVAIRLANT11, @NAE_Readiness, @US3rdFleet, @CNATRA pic.twitter.com/RnSKka4Gk0
The military service will have fewer than 30 MQ-4C strategic reconnaissance drones in service. This is a significant reduction from the original plan, which called for the procurement of 70 drones.
The U.S. Navy has learnt lessons from the Triton deployment in the early operational readiness phase. The lessons learned have led to improvements to the drone. In particular, the MQ-4Cs are now equipped with new sensors.
The UAV can climb to 15 kilometres in altitude and perform reconnaissance, surveillance and reconnaissance missions within 24 hours. The Triton is based on the RQ-4 Global Hawk strategic drone. Northrop Grumman claims the MQ-4C is capable of surveying 4 million nautical miles (more than 7 million kilometres) during a single mission.
Source: DVIDS
