Northrop Grumman demonstrated the MQ-4C Triton navigation system’s ability to operate deep in the Arctic recently as the mineral-rich region attracts the attention of global powers.
The flight test proved the high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned platform’s ability to operate in harsh austere environments over the Arctic Ocean.
It flew within 100 miles (161 kilometers) of the North Pole during the five-hour flight utilizing Northrop Grumman’s proprietary navigation systems, mission management computer, and upgraded operational flight programs.
The demonstration also “validated ground-based GPS alignment and initialization procedures to enable operations from runways above 70 degrees north latitude,” Northrop explained.
“Flight operations in austere and frigid conditions present unique navigation challenges. Our demonstration highlights Triton’s ability to successfully perform in that challenging environment,” vice president, global surveillance division, Northrop Grumman Jane Bishop said.
MQ-4C Triton
The platform can operate at altitudes of over 50,000 feet (15,240 meters), avoiding the Arctic winds that impact range and speed, unlike medium-altitude aircraft that operate at 10,000-30,000 feet (3,048-9,144 meters).
It is equipped with de-icing and anti-icing capabilities to deal with extreme arctic conditions and has endurance of over 24 hours.
The Triton has incorporated several elements of the RQ-4 Global Hawk, with missions including maritime patrol, signals intelligence, and search and rescue.
The aircraft is being upgraded for future missions, including with artificial intelligence and machine learning such as Wideband Tactical Targeting Network Technology, enhanced radar identification modes, protected satellite communications, M-Code and counter-electronic attack.
By 2027, the aircraft is expected to perform without GPS and satellite communications.
Arctic Jostling
It comes as the US Air Force has begun testing its unmanned platforms for a wider Arctic role, beyond surveillance.
“We’ve been experimenting with MQ-9s, with Global Hawks…trying to go up farther north in the Arctic Circle, which we haven’t done in the past,” Air and Space Force Magazine quoted commander of US Air Forces in Europe Gen. James B. Hecker as saying earlier this month.
The urgency is fueled by an increase in the activity of Russian aircraft in the Arctic and its expanding cooperation with China in the region.
On a broader level, climate change is thawing permafrost and making the hitherto inaccessible areas in the North increasingly reachable, opening up tracts of potential mineral-rich zones for competing nations.
“We’ve seen growing cooperation between the [People’s Republic of China] and Russia in the Arctic, commercially, with the PRC being a major funder of Russian energy exploitation in the Arctic, and increasingly militarily, with Russia and China conducting joint exercises off the coast of Alaska,” US Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks was quoted as saying in July.