BAMS-D hits 10K hours milestone

The Northrop Grumman RQ-4A Broad Area Maritime Surveillance-Demonstrator (BAMS-D) unmanned aircraft system has completed 10,000 combat hours in the six years it has been deployed in the Central Command area of responsibility, the US Navy disclosed. The RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 20-based high-altitude long-endurance was originally intended to deploy for six months as a concept demonstration, but has had its deployment extended indefinitely ahead of the planned introduction into service of its successor, MQ-4C Triton, which completed its first flight on May 22, 2013. The Navy has two BAMS-D aircraft operating out of Patuxent River in Maryland. Typical missions include tracking surface shipping and taking imagers of littoral targets. (Source: IHS Janes 360, 01/13/14) Gulf Coast note: The BAMS aircraft and Triton are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.; Previous