NATO Allies to Purchase Up to Five Triton Surveillance Drones, Rutte Says

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NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Tuesday that allies buy up to five ‌Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton high altitude surveillance drones, with Norway, Finland, Germany and Denmark signing a letter of intent for the purchase.

This is the first ⁠purchase of Triton drones by the alliance and will complement NATO’s current fleet of RQ-4D Phoenix intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance drones based at Sigonella Air Base in Sicily, Italy.

Both the Triton and the Phoenix drones would be used ‌for ⁠NATO’s ground surveillance programme. Both the drones are based on Northrop’s Global Hawk which has a wingspan of 35.4 meters (116 feet) ⁠and can stay aloft for more than 30 hours.

Speaking at a defence industry forum ahead ⁠of the NATO summit in Ankara, Rutte said intelligence, surveillance and ⁠reconnaissance were crucially important for the alliance.

Source: Reuters



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