The Northrop Grumman RQ-4A Broad Area Maritime Surveillance-Demonstrator (BAMS-D) unmanned aircraft system has completed 10,000 combat hours in the six years it has been deployed in the Central Command area of responsibility, the US Navy disclosed. The RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 20-based high-altitude long-endurance was originally intended to deploy for six months as a concept demonstration, but has had its deployment extended indefinitely ahead of the planned introduction into service of its successor, MQ-4C Triton, which completed its first flight on May 22, 2013. The Navy has two BAMS-D aircraft operating out of Patuxent River in Maryland. Typical missions include tracking surface shipping and taking imagers of littoral targets. The BAMS aircraft and Triton are built in part in Moss Point, Miss. (Source: IHS Janes 360, 01/13/14)