Jay Clemens
A Northrop Grumman-built unmanned aircraft system of the U.S. Navy has arrived at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland after an 11-hour test flight between Palmdale, Calif. and Pax River.
The MQ-4C Triton aircraft will go through a series of sensor integration flights after it is outfitted with a sensor system at Pax River,  Northrop said Thursday.
A joint team worked to control the aircraft from a forward operating base in Palmdale and a Navy System Integration Lab and Pax River.
“Now that the aircraft has arrived, we are ready to conduct the next phase of the test program,” said Navy Capt. James Hoke, Triton program manager for Naval Air Systems Command.
“Triton is one of the Navy’s most significant investments in unmanned aircraft systems to date and we look forward to evaluating its capabilities.”
Two other Tritons will also fly to Pax River within the next month for system development and demonstration tests.
