Navy Super Drone MQ-4C Triton Takes First Flight Across US Watch as MQ-4C Triton, the Navy's largest unmanned aircraft, lands at 7:53 a.m. Sept. 18 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. Huge Navy drone that is bigger than a 737 takes to the skies for flight across America An airliner-sized Navy surveillance drone made its first transcontinental flight Wednesday night, flying 11 hours across the United States before landing Thursday morning at a Navy base in Maryland. The cross-country test was the first for the MQ-4C Triton, which will play a role in the Navy's planned Broad Area Maritime Surveillance program. The Triton left from an airfield in Palmdale, California, at Northrop Grumman, which manufactures the aircraft, crossing the Gulf of Mexico before tracking up the Atlantic coast and landing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland. A Navy press release stated that the unmanned aircraft flew above 50,000 feet to avoid commercial air traffic and that after 11 hours and 3,290 miles landed safely in Maryland. The Washington Post reports that the drone can provide blanket surveillance for the Navy as part of the branch's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance program. Triton uses 'radar, infrared sensors and advanced cameras to provide full-motion video and photographs' to Navy personnel. Northrop Grumman says the unmanned aircraft also has a capacity to fly up to 28 hours at a time and surveil 1million square miles in a single mission. With a wingspan of 130 feet, the Triton is wider than commercial airliners such as the Boeing 737. Once operational, the drone will join the manned P-8 Poseidon, which was part of search operations for Flight 370 in the Indian Ocean. Navy Times reports that Triton aircraft are expected to see action in the Navy's Fifth Fleet, operating in the Middle East, the Sixth Fleet in Europe and the Seventh Fleet in Asia, as well as operations in the Atlantic. According to Ars Technica, the Navy is also looking for carrier-based attack drones, with Naval Air Systems Command soliciting proposals for an unmanned aircraft capable of both surveillance and air strikes in April. Surveillance drones have attracted their share of criticism as the military has been reluctant to offer transparency on their use or safety record. The ACLU says both the military and the FAA refuse to release data on drone crashes. In 2012, a RQ-4A Global Hawk, an earlier unmanned aircraft built by Northrop Grumman, crashed during training exercises in an unpopulated area near Naval Air Station Patuxent River.

• published: 19 Sep 2014
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