MQ-4C TRITON
The MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Air System (UAS) is a high altitude-long endurance UAS designed to provide Fleet and combatant commanders with persistent maritime Intelligence, Surveillance Reconnaissance and Targeting (ISR&T) of nearly all the world's high-density sea-lanes, littorals, and areas of national interest. The Triton air vehicle, mission control system, specialized sensors, and communications suite play a significant role in achieving the Navy's strategic vision for the 21st century. Triton provides persistent ISR&T and unparalleled situational awareness of the maritime battle space to the supported combatant commander and fleet commander. Triton provides the Warfighter with unprecedented levels of battlespace awareness to synchronize actions necessary to maintain maritime full spectrum superiority. Teamed with its manned-capability counterpart, the P-8A Poseidon, Triton is a key component of the Navy's maritime domain awareness family of systems. MQ-4C Triton leverages Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force manpower, training and maintenance efficiencies. Triton Early Operational Capability (EOC) was successfully deployed in 2020 to provide early fleet integration risk reduction. It successfully prepared the fleet for fielding Initial Operational Capability (IOC) and concluded in 2022. In August of 2023 Triton fielded the Increment 1 Multi-Intelligence (Multi-INT) IOC on schedule, successfully meeting the 2011 National Defense Authorization (NDAA) requirements. This enabled the Navy's Maritime Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Targeting (MISR-T) transition plan and initiated EP-3 Aries sundown. The Increment 1 Multi-INT capability provides Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), Counter Electronic Attack (CEA) upgrades, and data dissemination across multiple classification domains. Project Unit 4020: MQ-4C Triton Baseline funding supported developmental efforts from the inception of the program and continues to fund air vehicle Full Scale Fatigue Testing (FSFT), Effects of Defects (EoD) test efforts and updates to fatigue and damage tolerance analyses to fully verify and validate fatigue and damage tolerance requirements of the MQ-4C Triton Performance Based System Specification (PBSS). Fatigue testing results are required to certify the airframe to its current designed service life of 51,000 flight hours/2,029 landings.
FY27 continues airframe fatigue testing and analysis and initiates reliability, availability, maintainability, and performance improvement efforts for other aircraft components including, but not limited to, the engine and avionics systems.
Read the FY2027 plan →FY2027 planned work FY27 continues integrated logistics support, logistics supportability analyses and environmental planning, and development of technical data to support fielding of the MQ-4C Triton UAS capabilities.
FY2026 to FY2027 change FY27 decrease is due to miscellaneous rate adjustments.
FY2026 plans — current year FY26 continues integrated logistics support, logistics supportability analyses and environmental planning, and development of technical data to support fielding of the MQ-4C Triton UAS capabilities.
FY2027 planned work FY27 continues Developmental Test support of MQ-4C Triton fatigue testing.
FY2026 plans — current year FY26 continues Developmental Test support of MQ-4C Triton fatigue testing.
FY2027 planned work FY27 continues PM support and travel, development of milestone and acquisition-related documentation, capability refinement and open systems architecture development, resource justification, affordability assessments and cost analyses, risk reduction and risk management, system integration and interoperability planning, technology maturity reviews, program protection planning, corrosion prevention planning, and joint and international cooperation efforts.
FY2026 to FY2027 change FY27 decrease is due to miscellaneous rate adjustments.
FY2026 plans — current year FY26 continues PM support and travel, development of milestone and acquisition-related documentation, capability refinement and open systems architecture development, resource justification, affordability assessments and cost analyses, risk reduction and risk management, system integration and interoperability planning, technology maturity reviews, program protection planning, corrosion prevention planning, and joint and international cooperation efforts.