Giant U.S. Navy drone flies close to Mallorca as it heads to the eastern Mediterranean

A giant U.S. Navy Triton (MQ-4C) drone flew close to Mallorca this morning as it headed for the eastern Mediterranean, flying from its base in Florida. Earlier this month a similar drone was lost as it flew a mission over the Strait of Hormuz.

This was not the firsr time that a Triton had been lost to Iranian firepower. On 20 June 2019, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down an RQ-4A drone in the Strait of Hormuz near Kuhmobarak in Iran's southern province of Hormozgan. Iran claimed it was in their airspace, while the U.S. claimed it was in international airspace.

Developed under the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program, the Triton is intended to provide real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions (ISR) over vast ocean and coastal regions, continuous maritime surveillance, conduct search and rescue missions, and to complement the Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft

Each drone is valued in excess of 200 million dollars. The MQ-4C can remain aloft more than 30 hours at 55,000 ft (17,000 m) and at speeds of up to 330 knots (380 mph; 610 km/h).

The Triton is semi-autonomous to conserve manpower, so operators only need to choose an operating area for the aircraft, and set speed, altitude, and objective rather than operating controls.