Next chapter for Navy drone

[unhappycamper]

(mq4c) http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/aug/20/Northrop-triton-navy-drone-palmdale/



Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton

Next chapter for Navy drone
By Jeanette Steele
7:32 p.m.Aug. 20, 2014

PALMDALE, Calif. — The Navy’s first three Triton drones sat near the tarmac Wednesday, waiting to fly to Maryland next month for an important report card from the Navy.

Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman waits to hear whether Congress will greenlight the next batch of the San Diego-engineered aircraft.

The surveillance plane will be Northrop’s largest unmanned-aircraft program ever if the Navy buys the expected 68 drones.

About 500 jobs at the defense contractor’s design center in Rancho Bernardo are tied to the MQ-4C Triton, in addition to at least 80 positions at the defense giant’s assembly plant in Palmdale.

--
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MQ-4C

Wikipedia sez:

Unit cost
US$137.907m (FY13)[1]
US$189.156m (inc R&D)[1]

I've seen numbers above $250 mil for one of these things.

[MADem]

1. Certainly not cheap--but in time it'll make a difference on the 'personnel costs' end of things.

A sea-going version of the Air Force’s Global Hawk, the Triton is designed to fly for a full day at 50,000 feet, giving the Navy a 360-degree view of what’s happening on the ocean. The plane can dip down to 5,000 feet if needed to train its camera on anything that requires a closer look.

It is intended, along with the Navy’s new P-8 Poseidon patrol plane, to replace the aging P-3 Orion aircraft.

Triton is on the ascent to become one of the most-used drones in the Navy, which is also venturing into unmanned helicopters and fighter jets.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/aug/20/Northrop-triton-navy-drone-palmdale/