Germany opts for Triton

Germany's defense ministry has decided to buy the Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton unmanned surveillance planes for deliveries after 2025, ministry sources said on Tuesday. The new drones will replace the Euro Hawk program, which Berlin canceled in May 2013 after it became clear that it could cost up to 600 million euros to get the system approved for use in civil airspace. The sources confirmed a story originally reported by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. The plan, which must still be approved by parliament, calls for Germany to buy the Tritons from the U.S. Navy. Sensors for the Triton are to be built by Airbus. (Source: Reuters, 03/07/17) Gulf Coast note: Fuselage work on the Triton variants of the Global Hawk are built in Moss Point, Miss.