Aussie Triton production stays on track, says Northrop Grumman
Australia’s first MQ-4C Triton fuselage is lowered onto the one-piece wing. (Photo: Northrop Grumman)
Manufacturer Northrop Grumman has passed a milestone in the RAAF MQ-4C Triton programme.
Northrop Grumman recently passed a new stage in its Triton HALE UAV production programme for the Royal Australian Air Force, by mounting the fuselage onto the one-piece wing of Australia’s first MQ-4C aircraft.
Hailing this ‘production milestone’ in a 16 December company statement, Rho Cauley-Bruner, Triton programme manager at Northrop Grumman, added: ‘We are on schedule to deliver Triton’s powerful capability in support of Australia’s national security.’
The first aircraft is expected to arrive in 2023 but the RAAF will not be ready to receive it at Base Edinburgh until 2024. Until then the MQ-4Cs for Australia will be based in Guam.
Northrop Grumman began the build process of Australia’s first Triton aircraft (a maritime version of the Global Hawk) in 2020, with two more MQ-4Cs ordered subsequently.
The programme successfully achieved its first flight in July 2021.
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