Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton, unmanned aerial vehicle, Northrop Grumman Corporation, West Falls Church, Virginia, USA

The MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft System first flight music video.

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Northrop Grumman Corporation and the U.S. Navy have completed nine initial flight tests of the Triton unmanned aircraft system (UAS), marking the half-way point in a process called envelope expansion. During envelope expansion, the test team validates the aircraft's ability to operate at a range of altitudes, speeds and weights. The flights are taking place at the company's manufacturing facility in Palmdale, Calif. The Triton test team accomplished endurance flights up to 9.4-hours at altitudes up to 50,000 feet. The aircraft also performed doublets, a maneuver that tests the aircraft's ability to recover from small perturbations in its flight path caused by turbulence.

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MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system flies from Palmdale, Calif., to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.

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