“The purchase of an additional Triton will enhance operations from Australia’s northern bases, a priority under the Defence Strategic Review," Pat Conroy, minister for defense industry, said in a statement.
GAO found delays in more than half of the programs it studied. Also, 4-pound birds are a problem.
Multi-orbit mission capabilities are accelerating decision making across domains.
Toyko has put the breaks on its Aegis Ashore program, and there are reports its support for the Global Hawk buy may be soft.
"With only limited warning, Beijing or Moscow could exploit their time-distance advantage to seize allied territory before the United States and its allies could respond, thereby creating a fait accompli that would be difficult to reverse after the fact," CSBA finds.
Originally slated to deploy last year, the Triton drones will give US commanders in the Pacific a powerful new tool to conduct surveillance, and track Chinese moves from afar.