NATO’s Rutte says allies to buy up to five Triton surveillance drones

ANKARA, July 7 (Reuters) – 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.…Read more by Thomson Reuters