18-06-2025
Northrop eyes Norway as it works on Tritons for Australia
Northrop Grumman is bullish on the international appeal of its MQ-4C Triton, with Norway among the potential buyers of the massive maritime drone.
Why it matters: Militaries want more smart machinery, and governments want more dirt on their neighbors.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) strapped with specialty sensors can satisfy both cravings.
Driving the news: Reporters on June 13 got an intimate look at Tritons housed at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, home to the Naval Air Systems Command.
State of play: Northrop's delivered 20 Tritons to the U.S. Navy. It's sent another three to Australia, and is building a fourth right now in Mississippi.
"In the last six months, we've been able to execute 45 flights per month across all three operational orbits," said Capt. Josh Guerre, the persistent maritime unmanned aircraft systems program manager.
"You really are supporting concurrent operations, 24/7."
Zoom in: Triton can fly around the clock at altitudes greater than 50,000 feet, hoovering up geospatial and signals intelligence. It can also pair with Boeing-made P-8 aircraft, which hunt submarines.
Brad Champion, the Triton enterprise director at Northrop, described it as picking "up all the metal on the water."
The latest: Both Northrop and General Atomics responded to Norway's ask for long-range drones.
"They have a very vast ocean region that they're responsible for," Champion said. "Their economic exclusion zone is very large within the High North, and they are procuring P-8s, so they are set up very well to continue to follow the U.S. Navy doctrine of that manned-unmanned teaming."
Champion expects a decision this year. He referred an ask for specifics to Oslo.
The other side: C. Mark Brinkley, a spokesperson for General Atomics, told Axios the company has its MQ-9B SeaGuardian in the running.
