Navy tests MQ-4C drone with upgraded sensors

The U.S. Navy has announced that an MQ-4C Triton drone with an upgraded multi-intelligence configuration was successfully tested this week.

The drone maker, Northrop Grumman, said in a statement Friday that the test is seen as a milestone in improving the U.S. Navy’s premier high altitude long endurance, or HALE , a maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platform.

While the MQ-4C currently deployed by the US Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force includes multi-mission sensors in a configuration called Integrated Functional Capability 3 or IFC-3, the tests involved IFC-4, which includes an improved hardware and software configuration. The U.S. Navy said Thursday that the test was to improve sensor feedback.

“This flight demonstrates that the program has made significant progress in Triton’s advanced multi-intelligence upgrade, and it brings us one step closer to achieving the initial operational capability milestone,” Capt. Dan McGinn, the program manager, said in a release.

The drone is more than 47 feet long, has a wingspan of nearly 131 feet, is powered by a Rolls-Royce turbofan engine, and is operated by a crew of four on the ground station.

It is designed for high-altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions in conventional orbits to complement the P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft, an improved Boeing 737.

Two MQ-4C aircraft in IFC-3 configuration are currently deployed to the US Navy’s 7th Fleet.

In May, it was announced that the pair would be relocated from Guam to Japan, with Japan’s Defense Ministry saying “the security environment around Japan is becoming increasingly severe.”

At least 68 MQ-4C Tritons remain, with plans to upgrade the IFC-4.

“Triton’s multi-intelligence configuration will revolutionize the way the U.S. Navy and RAAF conduct maritime patrol and reconnaissance missions,” said Doug Shaffer, Northrop Grumman’s Triton program vice president and program manager, in a release.

“Multi-intelligence capabilities, coupled with Triton’s long-range sensors and 24-hour endurance, will enable unprecedented maritime situational awareness to inform real-time decision-making at the tactical and strategic levels,” Schaeffer said.