Page 16 - ADT SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2022 Online Magazine

which is also preparing to phase in the P-8. In May 2020, Northrop
Grumman announced that it had initiated discussions with the
European country for sale of the UAV.  MARITIME

Another major player in the maritime military drone market is Israel
Aerospace Industries. The company has had success with the
Maritime Heron, which has a maximum take-off weight of 1,270 kg, a
maximum payload weight of 470 kg, and maximum endurance of 45
hours. The drone is capable of flying at altitude greater than 35,000
ft and has a maximum speed of more than 140 knots. The Heron TP,
a multi-role, advanced, long-range MALE UAS used for strategic mis-
sions, is equipped with automatic taxi-takeoff and landing systems
(ATOL), satellite communication (SATCOM) for extended range, and
miles, has an operational range of 8,200 nau- fully redundant avionics.
tical miles. Pilots and sensor operators fly the
Triton from ground stations, which can com-
mand flights all over the world. SHIPBORNE DRONES

Australia’s 2016 Defence White Paper had Even as they induct major armed or unarmed maritime UAVs, many
forecast a requirement for seven Tritons, under countries are either developing ship and carrier-based drones or
Project Air 7000 Phase 1B, to support the in the market for them. Nearly two decades after it first expressed
RAAF’s manned Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime interest in acquiring a ship-borne drone, and a year after govern-
surveillance aircraft. According to Air Vice- ment approved a proposal to buy ten shipborne drones, the Indian
Marshal Robert Denney, RAAF Head of Air Force Defence Ministry and the Navy issued a Request for Information (RFI)
Capability, Australia will decide on whether to in June for the acquisition of 40 Naval Unmanned Aerial Systems
order up to four more MQ-4C Tritons after a (NUAS). The Indian Navy currently operates Israeli-origin Heron and
defence review in early 2023. Searcher Mk-II UAVs, but both the drones are not shipborne.

A DEAL THAT NEVER WAS The service intends to use the drones primarily for surveillance
activities, including signals intelligence (SIGINT), target acquisi-
tion, surveillance, and maritime domain awareness. The systems
Air Vice-Marshal Denney hinted that the ser- would also be used for Search-and-Rescue (SAR), anti-piracy, and
vice was likely to go ahead with its plans to add anti-terrorist operations. While the initial intention was to buy such
four more MQ-4C UAVs “That defence review drones through an open bid process, the RFI shows the government’s
will take into consideration the decision not to shift to procuring indigenously developed platforms. The drones will
proceed on SkyGuardian,” he said. have an Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) system and an automatic
identification system (AIS), with a minimum endurance of 10 hours.
In April last year, the US Defence Security The UAS should also be able to loiter at 5,000 feet while traveling
Cooperation Agency (DSCA) had announced at a speed of 100 km/h, according to the RFI.
that 12 MQ-9B armed drones would be sold
to Australia and delivered in the SeaGuardian The Indian Navy has also initiated a project to develop Underwater
maritime configuration. The drones were to be Launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (ULUAV) that will conduct mar-
equipped with the Seaspray 7500E V2 active
electronically scanned array (AESA) over-wa-
ter radar and Automatic Information System
(AIS) for surface vessel identification. However,
Australia announced in April this year that it
was canceling the US$980 million MQ-9B deal.
The cancelation is mainly for financial reasons;
Australia will use the money it intended to use
for the purchase of the SkyGuardian UAS for
RedSpice, a US$9.9 billion cyber capability
upgrade programme.

In November 2017, Northrop Grumman delivered
the first of two MQ-4C UAVs to the U.S. Navy for
operational testing. In January 2020, the U.S.
Navy deployed the MQ-4C Triton to Guam. The
service plans to purchase 68 Tritons as part of its
UAV fleet. Another potential customer is Norway,

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