The U.S. Navy has chosen Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida, as the East Coast Forward Operating Base for the Northrop Grumman-built MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system.The military service said Wednesday NS Mayport will serve as a permanent duty station of approximately 400 MQ-4C Triton UAS personnel as well as support the branch’s rotational deployments to be conducted outside the continental U.S.
Facility construction at NS Mayport is scheduled to commence this year and the first Triton UAS unit is slated to arrive to the station by 2020.
NS Mayport will also be the launch and recovery site for four forward-based Triton drones as well as a consolidated maintenance hub for up to four additional aircraft.
Triton is designed to help operators collect maritime ISR data and support tactical and strategic missions of the Navy’s Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force.
NS Mayport was selected out of three locations following a Navy-led environmental assessment that evaluated possible environmental impacts of basing the UAS in those facilities.
