Ross Wilkers
Northrop Grumman has conducted more than 25 flight tests of a sensor for an unmanned aircraft system the company is building for the U.S. Navy to carry out maritime surveillance missions.
The company has flown a Gulfstream II surrogate aircraft off the California coast during series of risk-reduction tests on the Triton vehicle’s Multi-Function Active Sensor, Northrop announced Thursday.
“By gathering this information in real and simulated environments, we can refine how an operator sees data while tasking the system in flight,” said Mike Mackey, Northrop Triton UAS program director.
MFAS systems are designed with electronic scanning and mechanical rotation features and work to help the Navy gain a 360-degree view ocean and coastal regions.
With MFAS on board, Northrop aims for the Triton drones to monitor up to 2,300 miles at a time.
The Navy plans to acquire 68 Tritons, the company said.
