Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northr...n_MQ-4C_Triton

The Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton is an American high-altitude long endurance
unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) under development for the United States Navy as a
surveillance aircraft. Together with its associated ground control station, it
is an unmanned aircraft system (UAS). Developed under the Broad Area Maritime
Surveillance (BAMS) program, the system is intended to provide real-time
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions (ISR) over vast ocean and
coastal regions, continuous maritime surveillance, conduct search and rescue
missions, and to complement the Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.
Triton builds on elements of the RQ-4 Global Hawk; changes include
reinforcements to the air frame and wing, de-icing systems, and lightning
protection systems. These capabilities allow the aircraft to descend through
cloud layers to gain a closer view of ships and other targets at sea when
needed. The sensor suites allow ships to be tracked by gathering information on
their speed, location, and classification.

The MQ-4C System Development and Demonstration (SDD) aircraft was delivered in
2012 and the MQ-4C was expected to be operational by late 2015 with a total of
67 aircraft to be procured. Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for the MQ-4C
was achieved in 2018 with Full Operating Capability (FOC) planned in 2023.

Key features

*Provides persistent maritime ISR 24 hours/7 days per week with 80% Effective
Time on Station (ETOS)
*AN/ZPY-3 Multi-Function Active Sensor (MFAS) with active electronically scanned
array
*Land-based air vehicle and sensor command and control
*51,000-hour airframe life
*Due regard radar for safe separation
*Commercial off-the-shelf open architecture mission control system
*Net-ready interoperability solution (systems working together)
*Communications bandwidth management
*Dual redundant flight controls and surfaces
*Afloat Level II payload sensor data via line-of-sight

Design

The MQ-4C can remain aloft more than 30 hours at 55,000 ft (17,000 m) at speeds
of up to 330 knots (380 mph; 610 km/h). Its surveillance sensor is the AN/ZPY-3
Multi-Function Active Sensor (MFAS) X-band AESA radar with a 360-degree
field-of-regard, capable of surveying 2,700,000 sq mi (7,000,000 km2) of sea (as
well as shoreline or land) in a 24 hour period, or 2,000 sq mi (5,200 km2) in a
single sweep. Using the radar in inverse synthetic aperture mode, the MFAS can
identify a target in all weather conditions. It can take high definition radar
pictures, then use the advanced image and radar return recognition software of
the onboard Automatic Identification System (AIS) to classify it without the
intervention of aircraft operators. The Triton is semi-autonomous to conserve
manpower, so operators only need to choose an operating area for the aircraft,
and set speed, altitude, and objective rather than operating controls.

One thing the Triton was designed to do (that the Global Hawk cannot) is rapidly
descend to lower altitudes. It is built with a more robust lower fuselage to
withstand hail, bird, and lightning strikes. It is equipped with anti-icing
systems on its wings. At low altitude, the Triton would use its Raytheon MTS-B
multi-spectral EO/IR sensor (also used on the MQ-9 Reaper) which is equipped
with additional laser designator, pointer, and range finding abilities capable
of automatically tracking what the MFAS detects. The optical suite can stream
live video to ground forces.

The Triton is equipped with a modular electronic support measures (ESM) suite,
similar to the one used on the Lockheed EP-3, to passively detect and classify
faint radar signals. It is able to triangulate and geo-locate these signals,
allowing mission planners to create an enemy "electronic order of battle"
profile, or keep the aircraft and others outside the range of enemy radars and
air defenses. Detecting and locating the source of radar signals would also be
useful for locating military vessels at sea for potential targeting. Low- and
high-band signals receivers to give it a multi-INT (SIGINT) capability will be
fielded in 2021 as part of an integrated functional capability (IFC) 4
configuration; further changes are planned for IFC 5 upgrade in 2024.

Another aspect of the MQ-4C is its ability to act as a network relay and data
fusion center, able to receive and transmit messages from around a theater of
operations between various sources not within line-of-sight of each other. It
can take what ships, planes, and land sensors are seeing and broadcasting
through various data-links and fuse that information together to create a common
"picture" of the battlespace, which it can rebroadcast. This capability greatly
increases interoperability, situational awareness, targeting efficiency, and
sensor picture clarity, while providing an alternative to satellite-based
communications systems.


Role
Unmanned maritime surveillance and patrol aircraft

National origin
United States

Manufacturer
Northrop Grumman

First flight
22 May 2013

Introduction
May 2018

Status
Limited service

Primary users
United States Navy
Royal Australian Air Force

Number built
68 (planned) + 2 prototypes

Program cost
US$12.7665B (as of FY15)

Unit cost

US$120.689m (FY15)
US$182.378m (inc R&D)


Developed from
Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk

Flight testing

The MQ-4C Triton performed its first flight on 22 May 2013 from United States
Air Force Plant 42 / Palmdale Regional Airport, California. The flight lasted 1
hour 20 minutes and the aircraft reached an altitude of 20,000 ft.

On 6 January 2014, Northrop Grumman announced that the MQ-4C had completed 9
test flights with 46 hours of flight time. Half of its envelope expansion
testing, which included evaluating the aircraft at different altitudes, speeds,
and weights, had been completed. Some flights lasted over 9 hours and reached
50,000 ft. A second Triton aircraft was to fly by March or April 2014. Initial
envelope expansion testing was completed in March 2014 through 13 flights, 81
flight hours, and reaching altitudes of 59,900 ft.

Iranian shoot down of drone

On 20 June 2019, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down an RQ-4A
drone in the Strait of Hormuz near Kuhmobarak in Iran's southern province of
Hormozgan. Iran claimed it was in their airspace, while the US claimed it was in
international airspace. An anonymous U.S. official initially claimed it was an
MQ-4C Triton drone, but the U.S. Central Command later confirmed it was a
(BAMS-D) a prototype version of the RQ-4A drone, developed during the
development of the MQ-4C. Four in total, of these prototype aircraft were built
and they had been assigned to the Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS)
program.

Specifications

General characteristics
Crew: Unmanned – 4 personnel fly aircraft from groundstation
Length: 47 ft 7 in (14.5 m)
Wingspan: 130 ft 11 in (39.9 m)
Height: 15 ft 5 in (4.6 m)
Empty weight: 14,945 lb (6,781 kg)
Gross weight: 32,250 lb (14,630 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce AE 3007 turbofan engine, 6,495–8,917 lbf
(28.89–39.66 kN) thrust

Performance
Maximum speed: 357 mph (575 km/h, 320 kn)
Range: 9,400 mi (15,200 km, 8,200 nmi)
Endurance: 30 hours
Service ceiling: 56,000 ft (17,000 m)




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