Non Blinking Eye

Triton’s futuristic vision

To see a Triton takeoff is to see a sci-fi vision of the future in the here and now.

Flight testing of the unmanned Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton, a considerably re-worked development of the RQ-4B Global Hawk has, to date, progressed smoothly ahead of its service entry with the US Navy under its Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program to build the unmanned component of its P-3C Orion replacement plans (complementing the manned P-8A Poseidon). On a cold, crisp winter’s morning, Australian Aviation recently witnessed the Triton launch on a test flight from Plant 42, the legendary Palmdale facility that is home to advanced R&D, flight test and manufacturing facilities for Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin’s Skunkworks and Boeing.