Audit of the Navy’s Management of the MQ‑4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft Program’s Operational Capabilities (Report No. DODIG‑2025‑151)

Audit of the Navy's Management of the MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft Program's Operational Capabilities (Report No. DODIG-2025-151)

Audit

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Navy's management of the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft program's operational capabilities.

The Navy did not effectively manage the operational capabilities of the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft program. Specifically,
Persistent Maritime Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program Office (PMA-262) did not correct developmental testing and evaluation (DT&E) deficiencies, of which precluded the Navy from conducting initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E). PMA-262 also did not correct operational testing and evaluation (OT&E) deficiencies reported in the interim OT&E reports. This occurred because the Navy determined that the MQ-4C Triton was beneficial to the fleet despite the open deficiencies and therefore declared Initial Operational Capability (IOC) in August 2023 before conducting IOT&E.