The US Department of Defense (DoD) has cleared the path to issue Northrop Grumman with a sole-source contract to supply Australia with two more MQ-4C Triton high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
A mockup of the Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton UAV in RAAF colours at Avalon 2015. Australia plans to field six such vehicles by 2025. (Jane’s/Gareth Jennings)
A notification posted on the US government’s beta.sam.gov website on 14 April noted that Australia is on course to add to the one Triton UAV for which a long-lead contract has already been placed by potentially exercising its options for two more as part of a wider US Navy (USN) procurement plan. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) plans to field a total of six such vehicles.
“This contract modification establishes two unfunded option lines for five additional MQ-4C unmanned aircraft [three for the USN and two for the RAAF] and two additional main operating bases [one for the USN and one for the RAAF] and related production support, to include but not limited to: the procurement of long-lead material and associated effort; systems engineering; production management; integrated logistics support; and associated technical, administrative, and financial data,” the notification stated.
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