Northrop Grumman Unveils U.S. Navy's MQ-4C BAMS Triton

The unmanned aircraft community received its first glimpse of the U.S. Navy's MQ-4C Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) during an unveiling ceremony June 14 at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, Calif., manufacturing plant.

"Last year, we proudly celebrated the centennial of naval aviation--this year we have seen the rollout of a new patrol aircraft and now, the beginning of an unmanned tradition in our fleet with the rollout of BAMS," said Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mark Ferguson who spoke at the unveiling. "BAMS is uniquely suited to meet the demands of the maritime environment and give us the advantage we will need in the future--history will record this introduction as a milestone in the second hundred years of naval aviation."

Now officially called the Triton, the MQ-4C's unveiling caps more than four years of development with Northrop Grumman for the surveillance aircraft. The Triton will be an adjunct to the P-8A Poseidon as part of the Navy's Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force family of systems.

"It's a phenomenal event to see the fruits of our labor come to fruition after four years of hard work and dedication to this program," said Capt. James Hoke, program manager for the Persistent Maritime Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program Office (PMA-262), which manages the Triton program. "We are looking forward to continuing testing and evaluation, parts assembly and installation and radar risk-reduction tests."

The next steps for the Triton program involve continued testing, functional requirements review and first flight for the system development and demonstration (SDD-1) aircraft. SDD-2 will follow a few months behind SDD-1.

The Triton air vehicle, which has a 130.9-foot wingspan, is based on the Air Force's RQ-4B Global Hawk, while its sensors are based on components and systems already fielded in the Department of Defense inventory. The Triton's new features include the AN/ZPY-3 multi-function active-sensor (MFAS) radar system, the primary sensor on the Triton. The MFAS completed first flight in December aboard a Gulfstream aircraft.

With the MFAS radar's capabilities, the Triton will be able to cover more than 2.7 million square miles in a single mission. The Triton's capability to perform persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance with a range of 2,000 nautical miles will allow P-8A, P-3C and EP-3E aircraft to focus on their core missions, adding to the capability of the Navy's Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force

MORE DETAILS ON MQ-4C BAMS
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BAMS UAS

Mission

As an adjunct to the P-8A, the BAMS UAS will provide combat information to operational and tactical users such as the Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG), Carrier Strike Group (CSG) and the Joint Forces Maritime Component Commander (JFMCC). BAMS UAS will provide intelligence preparation of the environment by providing a more continuous source of information to maintain the Common Operational and Tactical Picture (COTP) of the maritime battle space. Additionally, BAMS UAS-collected data posted to the Global Information Grid (GIG) will support a variety of intelligence activities and nodes. In a secondary role, the BAMS UAS will also be used alone or in conjunction with other assets to respond to theater-level operational or national strategic tasking.

Description

The BAMS UAS is a Department of Defense (DoD) Acquisition Category (ACAT) 1D program that received approval from the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (USD(AT&L)) to enter System Development and Demonstration (SDD) on 18 April 2008. Following a full and open competition, Northrop Grumman Corporation was selected as the best overall value solution to meet the Navy’s persistent maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) requirements.

The BAMS UAS will be a forward deployed, land-based, autonomously operated system that provides a persistent maritime ISR capability using a multi-sensor mission payload (maritime radar, Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR), Electronic Support Measures (ESM), Automatic Identification System (AIS) and basic communications relay). The BAMS UAS air vehicle is based upon the United States Air Force (USAF) RQ-4B Global Hawk, while its sensors are based upon components of (or entire systems) already fielded in the DoD inventory. Along with the P-8A and the EP-X manned aircraft, the BAMS UAS is integral to the Navy’s Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force (MPRF) Family of Systems (FoS) airborne ISR recapitalization strategy. The MPRF is the operational agent for the BAMS UAS and Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Group (CPRG) is the fleet sponsor for the manned/unmanned integration concept. The BAMS UAS’s ability to perform persistent ISR within a range of 2,000nm allows the P-8A and EP-X aircraft to focus on their core missions, Anti-Surface Ship Warfare (ASuW)/weapons employment and Multi-Intelligence (INT) operations respectively. The MPRF manned/unmanned Concept of Operations (CONOPS) will also potentially leverage USAF RQ-4 cross-platform training, operational, basing and support synergies which will result in the most effective and efficient means of providing maritime ISR capability to the Fleet. The BAMS UAS program successfully conducted its System Functional Review (SFR) in June 2009 and is progressing toward future program milestones utilizing the Systems Engineering Technical Review (SETR) process. SDD aircraft delivery is anticipated in 2012 with Initial Operational Capability (IOC) planned for 2015.

Specifications

Primary Function: Persistent Maritime ISR
Contractor: Northrop Grumman
Propulsion: Rolls-Royce AE3007H
Endurance: 30 hours
Length: 47.6 feet (14.5 meters)
Wingspan: 130.9 feet (39.9 meters)
Height: 15.3 feet (4.7 meters)
Weight: Max design gross take-off: 32,250 pounds (14,628.4 kilograms)
Airspeed: 310 knots (approximately 357 miles per hour)
Ceiling: 60,000 feet (18,288 meters)
Range: >9,950 nautical miles (>18,427 kilometers), max unrefueled range
Crew: 4 per ground station (Air Vehicle Operator, Mission Commander/Comms., 2 Sensor Operators)
Payloads: Communications relay capability, beyond line of sight and line of sight communications and the following 360-degree Field Of Regard (FOR) sensors: Multi-Function Active Sensor (MFAS) Maritime Radar, Electro-Optical / Infrared (EO/IR) sensor, Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver and Electronic Support Measures (ESM)

Program Office DescriptionThe Persistent Maritime Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program Office (PMA-262), located at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River was established to manage the development, production, fielding, and sustainment of all persistent maritime unmanned aircraft systems. Programs that currently fall under the cognizance of PMA-262 include the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Unmanned Aircraft System (BAMS UAS) and the BAMS Demonstrator (BAMS-D) programs, as well as airspace integration activities and associated international functions. PMA-262 is overseen by the Program Executive Officer for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons (PEO(U&W)).