Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) has received a one-year, $9.6 million order to design, develop, analyze, integrate and test software for the U.S. Navy‘s MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system. The Defense Department said Monday that Northrop will support the vehicle management software correction of deficiencies and integration of configuration updates into the MQ-4C under the cost-plus-fixed-fee order. DoD added the company will analyze and […] More

Whitesell-Green has been awarded an $8.5 million contract by the U.S. Navy to build a mission control facility at a military airport in Florida for the Northrop Grumman-built MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system. The U.S. Navy said Wednesday the company will construct and connect a 12,200-square-foot building to an existing Triton mission control facility located at Naval Air Station Jacksonville. “The new building will […] More

Northrop Grumman has obtained approval from Defense Department acquisition chief Frank Kendall to begin low-rate initial production of the company’s MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system for the U.S. Navy‘s surveillance operations. The Navy said Friday the milestone C decision represents the beginning of the production and deployment stage of the Triton UAS program. Sean Burke, Triton program manager at […] More

The U.S. Navy has tested the communication features of Northrop Grumman’s MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system during a flight test held June 2 at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland. MQ-4C Triton exchanged full-motion video data with a Boeing-built P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft during the demonstration, the Navy said Wednesday. The test […] More

Northrop Grumman has wrapped up the operational assessment phase for the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system the company designed for the U.S. Navy. Navy personnel and Northrop employees collaborated to check the performance of Triton during a 60-hour flight test and examined sensor imagery taken at different altitudes, Northrop said Tuesday. “Operational assessment for Triton included […] More

Northrop Grumman has selected Australia-based Mincham Aviation to produce aircraft structure components for the U.S. Navy‘s MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system under the Australian Defense Department’s Global Supply Chain program. Mincham is the second Australian supplier to receive the Triton components contract following Northrop’s deal with Ferra Engineering for the manufacture of mechanical subassemblies, Northrop  said […] More

Northrop Grumman has awarded Ferry Engineering a contract to manufacture structural components for the first four MQ-4C Triton drones that Northrop is building for the U.S. Navy. Ian Irving, chief executive of Northrop’s Australian arm, said Thursday the business intends to partner with local suppliers to produce and sustain Triton unmanned aircraft systems for the […] More

The U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman flew a second unmanned Triton aircraft for 6.7 hours on Wednesday from the company’s manufacturing center in Palmdale, California. Northrop said Thursday the MQ-4C Triton test was conducted in preparation of the drone’s ferry flight to the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, later this month. The UAS will […] More

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 […] More

The Navy has awarded RDRTec a $3 million contract to develop a radar technology that would allow drones to sense and avoid other aircraft in airspace, Military & Aerospace Electronics reported Thursday. John Keller writes that RDRTech will build an autonomous collision avoidance system for the Navy’s fleet of MQ-8 Fire Scout and MQ-4C Triton […] More

Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy have finished the first test flight phase for the company’s Triton unmanned aircraft system in an effort to evaluate how the drone flies at different altitudes, speeds and weights. The company said Monday 568 test points were evaluated during the initial envelope expansion test program through 13 simulated flight tests, 81 hours of long-endurance […] More

Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy have reached the halfway point of testing work on the company’s Triton unmanned aerial system nearly eight months after the drone completed its first flight. Testers have flown Triton for up to 9.4 hours at a time on one mission and have sent the UAS into altitudes of up […] More