Germany has decided not to buy MQ-4C Triton unmanned intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (IRS) aircraft, and is instead eyeing the manned Bombardier Global 6000.
This was disclosed by a German defense ministry spokesperson, who noted that the Triton procurement turned out to be more expensive than initially planned, according to a report from Defense News.
The report comes almost two years after the US state department approved Germany’s procurement of the Northrop Grumman-built Triton UAS that is in service with the US Navy. The MQ-4c is based on the United States Air Force (USAF) RQ-4B Global Hawk.
Germany considered buying Triton aircraft after it walked away from the development of its own, Euro Hawk, unmanned ISR aircraft after an investment of around $700 million.
Instead of unmanned solutions, the country is now planning to buy Bombardier Global 6000 aircraft that would also be able to fly in civilian traffic with less restrictions compared to unmanned solutions.
It is still unclear when Germany could be expected to award a contract for the procurement of Global 6000 aircraft whose production is soon coming to a close.
