U.S. Navy's Huge Triton Spy Drone Can Fly for a Full Day Straight

The U.S. Navy and giant defense contractor Northrop Grumman announced that their next massive spy drone has completed its first nine initial test flights, the first significant step toward future deployment

The MQ-4C drone is nicknamed Triton, after the Greek god who worked as the messenger of Poseidon, the god of the sea. Just like its mythological counterpart, Triton will assist the P-8A Poseidon, Boeing's manned war plane; it is supposedly the heir of the older RQ-4 Global Hawk, which took off for the first time in 1998

The Triton was unveiled in June of 2012 and flew for the first time almost a year later, on May 22, 2013. Now, the Navy has ordered 68 Tritons at a cost of $1.16 billion. Read more...