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Northrop Grumman & U.S. Navy Complete Nine Flights of MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft System.
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Naval
Forces News - USA |
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Northrop Grumman & U.S. Navy Complete Nine Flights of MQ-4C Triton
Unmanned Aircraft System |
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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. |
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 Link to MQ-4C Triton datasheet Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy have completed nine initial test flights of the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system. 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. (Photo by Alan Radecki) |
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"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. |