Richard Marles launches MQ-4C Triton at Tindal to ”defend our nation”
The Deputy Prime Minister has visited Katherine to unveil “an exquisite” piece of military hardware. See the pictures.
Northern Territory
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The Air Force’s new MQ-4C Triton was in the spotlight at Tindal on Wednesday when Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles showcased the RAAF’s latest acquisition to defend Australia.
Standing alongside Air Marshall Stephen Chappell and industry-partner Northrop Grumman Australia chief executive Christine Zeitz, Mr Marles said the first of the new Defence drones would hit the skies later this year.
The largest uncrewed aircraft in the world, Mr Marles said the Triton was “an exquisite” and “transformational capability”, with more than double the existing range provided by the P-3 Orion.
Mr Marles said the Triton would work alongside the patrol and reconnaissance aircraft P-8 Poseidon as a two-part replacement for the multi-intelligence reconnaissance-capacity provided by Orion.
He said the $2.5bn Triton program would see Canberra purchase, operate and sustain four Triton, with the next two expected at Tindal in 2025 and the fourth in 2026.
About $900m of the $2.5bn would be invested into the Australian defence industry.
He said the Triton could fly for 24 hours without refuelling and in that time, provide surveillance of an area the size of Western Australia.
“We are a country surrounded by oceans with vast approaches to our nation and so the area we need to surveil in order to keep our nation safe is massive,” Mr Marles said.
“It’s on a different scale to most countries, which is why we need a cutting edge, highest capability platform which can do persistent and enduring missions, which will enable us to do that surveillance.
“The primary job for this capability will of course be military in that what it will be detecting or looking for is our adversaries assets; surface fleet, submarines. That is what this capability is designed for, but it’s obviously a capability which does hold significance enough that it can contribute to all our nation’s missions.”
The Triton program will be overseen by RAAF’s 9 Squadron at Adelaide’s RAAF Base Edinburgh with Tindal providing the hangar capacity.
Northrop Grumman will manage and maintain the Tindal Tritons, with about 25 personnel when the full fleet is assembled - the first time a private contractor has had oversight of RAAF operational assets.
Mr Marles said the drone would be flown out of Edinburgh by qualified pilots from a ground station supported by a co-pilot, with data obtained by the Triton also accessed and processed at Edinburgh.
“It’s there where this aircraft will be flown,” Mr Marles said.
“It will actually have a pilot who will operate the aircraft during its missions, sitting behind a console in RAAF Base Edinburgh.”
Information gathered by the Triton will be analysed and communicated by operational staff including aircrew, operations and administration officers, engineers and logisticians.
“This is a really exciting development in terms of improving the capability of our northern bases, which was at the heart of what we announced with the Defence Strategic Review and the National Defence Strategy,” he said.
“It’s a very exciting time for the Defence Force in the Northern Territory, indeed the Defence Force more generally, and this is speaking to us building a Defence Force that is much more capable in terms of our ability to project and our ability to defend our Nation.”
Mr Marles said $42m was currently being spent at Tindal on new fuel farms, and a passenger receiving terminal.
Air Marshall Chappell said the Tritons would provide an “incredibly important and persistent layer” of intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance capability to the ADF.
“We can program the flights to anywhere in our region that we require and we can contribute not only to our own joint integrated, focused force we are currently building via the National Defence Strategy, but we can also contribute to the maritime domain awareness of our allies and partners within the region,” he said.
Northrop Grumman director strategy, air and space Jake Campbell said the drone flew to Tindal using an American system, which technicians are currently converting into an Australian model.
“Teams are now working to put the systems onto the Australian network,” he said. “It flew to Tindal on US Navy networks, and now we’re going through the process of integrating those into the Australian networks in a way that is cyber secure and that meets all the security standards of the relevant agencies.”
Valued at about $215m each, the Triton is 14.5m long, has a 39.9m wingspan, a 55,000 feet ceiling, 15,000km range and a 600km top speed.
Originally published as Richard Marles launches MQ-4C Triton at Tindal to ”defend our nation”
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