Page 76 - Australian Defence Magazine Feb-Mar 2023

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AIRPOWER MQ-4C TRITON
FEBRUARY-MARCH 2023 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
PERSISTENT WIDE OCEAN SURVEILLANCE
NIGEL PITTAWAY | MELBOURNE
Australia’s Triton remotely piloted maritime surveillance program took a step closer to reality in September 2022 with the rollout of the first aircraft from Northrop Grumman’s facility in Palmdale California.
THE RAAF is set to receive its first MQ-4C Triton (A57-001) in 2024 and currently has two more on order under its Air 7000 Phase 1B project. In addition, there is a current re- quirement to acquire at least three more, bringing the total to six aircraft.
With the growing realisation within Defence that Aus- tralia is a three-ocean nation (Indian, Pacific and South- ern), there is also a growing need to have the resources to provide persistent surveillance over a large portion of the Earth’s surface.
However, the Australian Government’s approval for ad- ditional three – or perhaps even four – air vehicles is now awaiting the outcome of the Defence Strategic Review (DSR).
TRITON FOR AUSTRALIA
The previous US administration froze the US Navy’s ac- quisition budget for Triton in February 2020, resulting in a two-year hiatus to the program – which has a require- ment for 68 aircraft. The knock-on effect of this resulted in Canberra delaying Public Works Committee (PWC) ap- proval for the major infrastructure works required at RAAF Edinburgh and Townsville to support operations by around two years also.
However, the Triton program received a major boost in the US defence budget for 2023, which included US$584 million in funding for three aircraft; and in other positive news for the program, Northrop Grumman received ad- ditional funding to upgrade new Tritons to the Integrated