JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #82 - July 2013 - 15

UAV

Triton’s first flight for US Navy

The MQ-4C Triton high-altitude unmanned
aircraft built by Northrop Grumman Corporation
successfully completed its first flight on the 22nd
of May 2013 from the company’s manufacturing
facility in Palmdale, California, USA. Its wings
are made by Triumph Aerostructures – Vought
Integrated Programs Division using composites.

T

he flight conducted
by the US Navy and
Northrop Grumman,
which was about 1.5 hours,
successfully demonstrated
control systems that allow
Triton to operate autonomously.
Based on the Global Hawk
UAV, Triton is specially
designed to fly surveillance
missions of up to 24 hours

Triton in flight

at altitudes of more than 16
kilometres, allowing coverage out to 2,000 nautical
miles. The system’s advanced
suite of sensors can detect
and automatically classify
different types of ships.
Additional flight tests will
take place from Palmdale to
mature the system before it is
flown to the main flight test
facility at Naval Air Station
Patuxent River, Maryland,
later this year. The system is
expected to enter service in
2015.

More information

A challenging
programme
In 2008, Northrop
Grumman was awarded a
systems development and
demonstration contract to
build two aircraft and test
them in preparation for
operational missions. The
Navy’s programme of record
calls for 68 Tritons to be
built.
Triton carries a variety of
ISR sensor payloads that
allow military commanders to gather high-resolution imagery, use radar to
detect targets, and provide
airborne communications
and information sharing
capabilities to military units
across long distances.
At 39.9 m, Triton has a
wingspan larger than the
world’s most common commercial airliner, the Boeing
737. It is 14.5 m long, has a
height of 4.6 m, and a gross
take-off weight of 14,628
kg. It can carry a 1,089 kg
payload and, combined
with an efficient engine and
other aerodynamic design
features, it can fly 18,500
kilometres without refuelling. The distinctive V-tail,
nacelle (engine covers), aft
fuselage, wings and wings
fairings are constructed
primarily of graphite composite materials, while its
main fuselage is a standard
aluminium, semi-monocoque construction.
No82 July 2013

Northrop Grumman is a leading
global security company providing innovative systems, products
and solutions in unmanned
systems, cybersecurity, C4ISR,
and logistics and modernization
to government and commercial
customers worldwide.

Composite wings
Triumph Aerostructures –
Vought Integrated Programs
Division in Dallas has been
on the Global Hawk/Triton
programme since 2000,
responsible for the wing
fabrication, assembly, and
structural testing.
Vought uses commercially
available graphite and epoxy
materials, including highmodulus unidirectional
tape, in the fabrication of
the Global Hawk and Triton
composite wings. Its work
includes design development, fabrication, assembly
and structural testing of the
wing.
The wingspan is 39.9 m
long, weighs about 1,814
kg and is the longest wing
ever delivered from Triumph
Aerostructures. n
More information:
www.northropgrumman.com
& www.triumphgroup.com
Picture Copyright:
Northrop Grumman
(photo by Bob Brown)

/ jec composites magazine 15
http://www.northropgrumman.com http://www.triumphgroup.com
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #82 - July 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #82 - July 2013
