New mission for the US Navy’s Triton drone. The Northrop Grumman MQ-4C (reg. 169659) took off last night at 00:05 from NAS Sigonella, heading south.
Initially, it conducted part of its mission off the coast of Tripoli before moving eastward. In an unusual maneuver, the drone then orbited south of the island of Crete before heading towards the coast of Cyrenaica.
The mission’s unexpected trajectory, especially the extended orbit near Crete, has raised some questions about its objectives in this strategically sensitive region.