Australian MQ-4C Tritons, MC-55A Peregrines reach Initial Operational Capability

Royal Australian Air Force MQ-4C Triton (Photo: Australian Department of Defence)

SINGAPORE — The Australian Department of Defence announced today that its fleets of Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton High Altitude, Long Endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft and L3 Harris MC-55A Peregrine Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare (ISREW) have attained Initial Operational Capability (IOC) “following extensive operational testing and evaluation.”

The milestone will boost Australia’s ability to conduct long range, persistent surveillance over the expansive airspace and waters in and around the Indo Pacific region, according to the announcement.

Declaring IOC in the Australian context means that the initial subset of a platform or a system, in this case part of the full complement of aircraft and their support elements, is ready to be deployed operationally.

Jane Bishop, Northrop Grumman Global Surveillance Division’s vice president and general manager, said in an announcement that “achieving Initial Operating Capability with the Royal Australian Air Force is a key step in strengthening the critical Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance capabilities MQ-4C Triton brings to the vast Indo-Pacific.” “Commanders can now take full advantage of Triton’s ability to provide comprehensive surveillance data that strengthens regional security for joint decision makers, even in harsh and remote environments.”

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has received three each of the MQ-4Cs and MC-55As, having ordered four of both aircraft types. The Australian IOC announcement added that the fourth MC-55A is set to arrive in Australia later this year.

Today’s announcement added that attaining IOC for the RAAF’s MQ-4Cs has “significantly strengthened its ability to deliver persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance effects across Australia’s primary area of military interest,” while the MC-55s “expand Air Force’s ability to deliver integrated intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and electronic warfare effects in support of Defence operations.”

Since the first MC-55 arrived in Australia in February , the aircraft have been deployed overseas. In July, one one aircraft deployed to Clark Airbase in the Philippines and flew several missions over the South China Sea.

Separately, today’s announcement noted that the first of two Boeing P-8A Poseidon multi-mission aircraft being upgraded by Boeing in the US has returned to Australia.

Boeing was awarded a contract in 2024 to upgrade the RAAF’s fleet of 14 P-8As to Increment 3 Block 2 standard that includes improvements to the aircraft’s onboard software, systems and sensors, with work on the first two aircraft carried out in Jacksonville, Fla., and the remainder to be upgraded in Australia.

澳大利亚皇家空军MQ-4C“海神”无人机（图片：澳大利亚国防部）

新加坡——澳大利亚国防部今天宣布，其诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司生产的MQ-4C“海神”高空长航时（HALE）无人机和L3哈里斯公司生产的MC-55A“游隼”情报监视侦察和电子战（ISREW）无人机机队“在经过广泛的作战测试和评估后”已达到初始作战能力（IOC）。

公告称，这一里程碑将提升澳大利亚在印度洋-太平洋地区及其周边广阔空域和水域进行远程、持续监视的能力。

在澳大利亚，宣布 IOC 意味着平台或系统的初始子集（在本例中是全部飞机及其支持要素的一部分）已准备好投入作战部署。

诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司全球监视事业部副总裁兼总经理简·毕晓普在一份声明中表示：“与澳大利亚皇家空军达成初始作战能力是增强MQ-4C‘海神’无人机在广袤的印太地区所具备的关键情报、监视和侦察能力的重要一步。” “指挥官们现在可以充分利用‘海神’无人机提供全面监视数据的能力，即使在恶劣偏远的环境中，也能为联合决策者增强区域安全。”

澳大利亚皇家空军（RAAF）已接收了三架MQ-4C和三架MC-55A无人机，此前共订购了四架。澳大利亚初始作战能力办公室（IOC）的公告还补充说，第四架MC-55A将于今年晚些时候抵达澳大利亚。

今天的公告还补充说，澳大利亚皇家空军的MQ-4C无人机获得初始作战能力“显著增强了其在澳大利亚主要军事利益区域内持续提供情报、监视和侦察效果的能力”，而MC-55无人机“扩展了空军在支持国防行动方面提供综合情报、监视、侦察和电子战效果的能力”。

自2月份首架MC-55抵达澳大利亚以来，该型飞机已被部署到海外。7月份，其中一架部署到菲律宾克拉克空军基地，并在南海上空执行了多次任务。

另外，今天的公告指出，波音公司在美国升级的两架波音 P-8A 海神多用途飞机中的第一架已经返回澳大利亚。

波音公司于 2024 年获得一份合同，将澳大利亚皇家空军的 14 架 P-8A 飞机升级到 Increment 3 Block 2 标准，其中包括对飞机机载软件、系统和传感器的改进。前两架飞机的升级工作在佛罗里达州杰克逊维尔进行，其余飞机将在澳大利亚进行升级。