HALE BAMS-D hits remarkable milestone after 40,000 hours in the air

Air

31 May 2021

By: Nastasha Tupas

Northrop Grumman’s HALE BAMS-D surpassed 40,000 flight hours this April, 12 years after the aircraft originally took-off for a six-month demonstration deployment.

You’re out of free articles for this month

To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.

Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!

First Name

Last Name

Mobile

Organisation Type

By becoming a member, I agree to receive information and promotional messages from Defence Connect. I can opt out of these communications at any time. For more information, please visit our Privacy Statement.

Need help signing up? Visit the Help Centre.

The autonomous high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) Broad Area Maritime Surveillance-Demonstrator (BAMS-D) program became an integral part of the US Navy intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions in USCENTCOM since it entered operational service for the US Navy in 2009.

A routine mission marked the milestone for the BAMS-D program, after it has remained in operational service past its initial six-month demonstration deployment by over a decade. Doug Shaffer, vice president and program manager of Triton programs at Northrop Grumman says the key milestone has “demonstrated the company’s commitment to delivering advantageous, critical capabilities”.

==============

“BAMS-D providing operational support well beyond its intended demonstration period highlights the unrivalled strategic value of autonomous maritime HALE while the Navy integrates the MQ-4C Triton into its vital maritime patrol mission,” Shaffer added.

The BAMS-D will remain operational until it is replaced by the MQ-4C Triton, while it completes its first year of an early operating capability deployment in the US Indo-Pacific. The milestone for the BAMS-D has been "especially remarkable", according to Captain James Johnston, Commander at Task Force 57.

“This is a significant milestone for any aircraft, but especially remarkable for an originally planned six-month demonstration system,” he said.

The Triton system is currently progressing towards a multi-intelligence configuration and will ultimately support five operational orbits for the Navy with 68 operational aircraft.

Australia is set to receive its first Triton in 2023 as part of a co-operative development program that will enable intelligence sharing between the US and Australia.