Triton confirmed to have been deployed at Talisman Sabre

Company officials confirmed the deployment while in discussion with Australian Aviation sister brand Defence Connect during the recent Indo Pacific 2025 International Maritime Exposition in Sydney last week.

“Triton flew in Talisman Sabre on a 11.9 hour mission… I know it was doing an ISR mission up in the northern airspace up in the northern areas,” according to Northrop Grumman communications and brand manager Mike De Vile.

“At this stage of the platform’s life, everything is a test and evaluation activity, and part of that was, you know, getting data and bringing that into the intelligence organisation for processing.

“It’s a testament to the maturity of the aircraft and the planning between all sides that the airplane hit soil about four months before it flew to Talisman Sabre.

“It’s a puppy growing into its paws.”

MQ-4C Triton high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft were originally revealed at RAAF Base Tindal by Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Stephen Chappell, in 2024.

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The aircraft is expected to complement the ADF’s crewed P-8A Poseidon fleet as a “family of systems” to undertake enhanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in support of Defence operations and provide persistent surveillance across Australia’s maritime approaches.

The country’s second and third MQ-4C Triton arrived in the Northern Territory in May this year after being remotely piloted from United States Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, US, in multi-day, multi-leg trips over the Pacific Ocean.

“We’re certainly focused on Triton, the stand-up and the long-term sustainment discussions, both with the Northern Territory where the aircraft will be based, and then South Australia for where the control centre will be, and both the state representatives as well as the companies and the government and the customers that are involved,” De Vile said.

“There are things that need to be done to allow for the workforce to be there, to ensure that they’re taken care of, whether they’re commercial contracted workforce or if it’s a government workforce.

“We’re in collective conversation. We had some of those with the Northern Territory folks yesterday, and beyond the supply chain it’s the people side to ramp up and to ensure that the community is ready to support them in their needs, particularly in remote areas.

“As aircraft production line ends go, (Triton) is continual… So, we’re still working domestically within the US Navy for potentially more Tritons… We’re in discussions with Norway for their effort there, as well as NATO.

“Australia’s just starting to play with it. As almost any product does, once it hits the street and people start getting their hands on it and seeing [what] it does, the demand signal starts to come up. We’re trying to keep that option open for people.”

The fit-for-purpose facilities and infrastructure to support the introduction into service of the MQ-4C Triton aircraft system are being delivered under the Department of Defence’s AIR 7000 Phase 1B Project.

A scope of works at RAAF Base Tindal for AIR 7000 Phase 1B includes two maintenance hangars, a building for support and maintenance, a deployable mission control system to support operations, aircraft pavements, an aircraft wash and engine run-up area, a ground support equipment shelter, internal access roads, car parking, general pavements and landscaping as well as a local building services plant and site wide engineering services.