The Navy’s MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on Nov. 17 kicked off its operational assessment, a series of tests that will help the service evaluate whether to enter low-rate initial production.
Those tests include six flights and data-collecting scenarios that will gauge Triton’s performance in an operational environment, including conducting intelligence, surface warfare and amphibious warfare missions, according to a Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) news release.
Triton, which is built by Northrop Grumman [NOC], will be forward deployed at naval bases and flown to conduct surveillance in maritime and coastal locations. The UAV is equipped with various sensors and radar that allow it to track maritime targets and classify surface ships, and it can stay in the air for more than 24 hours.
The Navy hopes that by using the MQ-4C to conduct tiresome surveillance missions, it can free up its P-8 Poseidon maritime planes for more difficult missions that require a human pilot sitting in the cockpit.
During operational assessment, the Navy will assess the Triton’s ability to detect, identify, classify and track targets during day and nighttime conditions, as well as to identify potential challenges in using and maintaining the system, the service said.
The tests will take place over the next two months and will help the service identify risk areas for the follow-on Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) phase.
“We worked very hard to demonstrate system performance and stability leading up to the start of operational assessment,” Sean Burke, the service’s Triton program manager, said in the news release. “We are eager to move into initial production as the next step to delivering Triton to the fleet.”
The Navy expects to start low-rate initial production in 2016 after a Milestone C decision. The service is slated to buy three Triton air vehicles next year and 68 in its total program of record. The first MQ-4C is planned to become operational in 2017, and initial operational capability is scheduled for 2018, when four systems have been delivered.
However, some capabilities—including a signals intelligence architecture and a “due regard” radar that will help Triton prevent collisions with other aircraft—will not come online until at least 2020, Burke said earlier this year (Defense Daily, April 13).