Illustrative image. (U.S. Navy)
The United States Navy has confirmed a second incident involving an MQ-4C Triton high-altitude surveillance drone, with some reports indicating that the event took place in the Middle East.
A mishap summary report by the U.S. Naval Safety Command (NAVSAFECOM) released on April 28 mentions the incident. It says that an MQ-4C was damaged the day before.
The drone completed its mission and landed safely despite sustaining damage during flight, according to the report, which classified the event as an damaged-in-flight incident with the location withheld under security restrictions.
This comes after an April 9 incident involving an MQ-4C that was lost during a flight over the Persian Gulf. The drone had been visible on flight tracking websites before it lost contact. A mishap summary report released by NAVSAFECOM afterwards said that the drone crashed in an undisclosed location.
Open source analysts linked the second incident to an MQ-4C with the serial number “169661,” believed to be the replacement Triton deployed after the earlier crash, operating from Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan and flying a reconnaissance mission under callsign “OVRLD01.”
In addition to these two incidents, on December 12 another MQ-4C suffered a serious incident during ground maintenance with no injury to personnel at an undisclosed location, according to NAVSAFECOM.
All of the mishaps are defined as “Class A,” meaning they resulted in a destroyed aircraft or $2.5 million or more in damages.
U.S. Navy budget documents last pegged the unit price of an MQ-4C at just over $238 million, making it one of the most expensive drones in service with the force.
The drone was developed by Northrop Grumman to provide real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions over vast ocean and coastal regions, continuous maritime surveillance, conduct search and rescue missions, and to complement the Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. It has a service ceiling of 56,000 feet, and an endurance of up to 30 hours.
The recent indications didn’t just constitute a material loss for the U.S. Navy. They likely had a direct impact on the operational capabilities of the Navy specifically in the Middle East which is currently witnessing a conflict with Iran.
The Islamic Republic was suspected of being behind the April 9 incident, although it took place amid a ceasefire. Now, similar speculations are emerging over the more recent incident.
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