First RAAF Triton arrives in-country

The first of four MQ-4C Triton uncrewed surveillance aircraft ordered by the Royal Australian Air Force arrived at RAAF Base Tindal in the Northern Territory last month.

The first Royal Australian Air Force MQ-4C Triton uncrewed air system arrives in its new hangar at RAAF Base Tindal in the Northern Territory. Picture: Department of Defence

The first of four MQ-4C Triton uncrewed surveillance aircraft ordered by the Royal Australian Air Force arrived at RAAF Base Tindal in the Northern Territory last month. However, apart from posting a few photos on its website, ­Defence has steadfastly declined to comment on what is a significant milestone.

The Triton uncrewed air system (UAS) arrived nearly 25 years after the first similar RQ-4B Global Hawk, which flew a record-breaking 14,000km direct from California to RAAF Base Edinburgh, near Adelaide, in 2001 on an official visit.

In subsequent years, a number of Global Hawks are known to have flown surveillance missions from Edinburgh as part of the global war against terror.

When it arrived at Tindal, the RAAF’s first Triton landed at night and was immediately put in a hangar for environmental protection and concealment. It is believed the secrecy surrounding the Triton is meant to generate uncertainty over whether the aircraft is actually airborne or not and which patrol areas it is covering.

The Triton’s manufacturer, Northrop Grumman, has declined to comment on the RAAF’s program, but it is known three more RAAF Tritons are in production. All will be based at Tindal, though their ground control stations and imagery exploitation infrastructure will be based in a secure location at RAAF Base Edinburgh in Adelaide and operated by the re-formed No. 9 Squadron RAAF.

Edinburgh is also home to the RAAF’s P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, which are currently being upgraded, and will be a secure clearing house for classified ADF maritime surveillance information.

The MQ-4C Triton was developed for both the US Navy, as part of its Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program, and the RAAF and will be a key part of Australia’s future Defence Targeting Enterprise.

From an altitude of 55,000ft (17,000m), it will be able to surveil up to four million square nautical miles of sea or coastline in a 24-hour sortie, says Northrop Grumman. A force of three aircraft can maintain a permanent watch over a specific sea area. It is designed to conduct surveillance using radar and infrared sensors, intelligence-gathering through its Electronic Warfare system and provide targeting ­information to ADF long range missiles.

These will eventually include the RGM-109E Tomahawk conventionally armed cruise missile, which has a range of more than 1600km and will be fired from RAN surface ships and submarines. Other long-range missiles to be acquired by the ADF include the Extended-Range version of the AGM-158 Joint Air-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) which has a range of more than 800km, and its stablemate the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) with an estimated range of 370km.

To bed down the Triton capability initially, the RAAF has deployed to Tindal a “trailerised” forward operating base, which is the initial ground mission control station for the aircraft, according to Group Captain Andrew Leahy, the ADF’s director – Future Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Systems Program Office. The RAAF has also installed other infrastructure at Edinburgh, he said earlier this year.

RAAF personnel have been trained by their US Navy counterparts at Jacksonville in Florida and have gained experience so that the RAAF can start operating the ­Triton effectively from the outset, according to Air Vice-Marshal Wendy Blyth, the head of Air Force Capability. The US Navy’s own Tritons achieved Initial Operational Capability last September and have been deployed since to the NATO air base at Sigonella in Sicily and to Anderson Air Force Base in Guam.

Sources say the RAAF needs seven or eight Triton UASs in order to maintain a robust strategic surveillance capability, support long-range maritime strike and to maintain a watch over a second sea area. The RAAF’s window to acquire the additional aircraft is closing fast: unless somebody else orders more, the production line is due to close at the end of September this year.

However, an MoU signed by Northrop Grumman and Norwegian company Andoya Space in May to jointly offer the MQ-4C Triton to meet a new Norwegian military requirement for long-range drones may offer the RAAF more time. And there are reportedly other potential customers.