AUVSI 2012 : AAI Textron Begins Shadow M2 Flight Tests

AAI Textron Systems used AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems North America to highlight several upgrades to its Shadow UAS.

‘Our biggest upgrade, and this is not government funded, is our Shadow M2,’ offered Vance King, vice president for Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems at AAI.

‘Last week we took our maiden flight,’ King said. ‘So far we have about seven flights under our belts – about 8 ½ hours of flight time – and that’s growing every day. We’re going to be out through the end of the month. Right now we fly on a given day and then tear the aircraft apart on the next day to check for wear and tear. And it is exceeding our expectations.

‘Shadow M2 has a payload capacity about four times the current Shadow,’ he added, noting that one company marketing concept involves introducing the M2 through a reset effort on the current Shadow.

‘The extended wings are exactly the same and the electronics and avionics are exactly the same,’ he said. ‘So the premise is that you basically back up an RQ-7B; gut the aircraft; remove the main fuselage; put the new fuselage in; and put the old wings back on.

‘One of the other enhancements is that it would have a new propulsion system,’ he continued. ‘That new fuselage and propulsion system basically doubles the duration. We’re shooting for about 20 hours, but of course that is dependent on what you do with your payload. To get the 20 hours you would continue with the current EO/IR sensor but you would not add a second SAR or anything and you wouldn’t put multi-mission pods under it. Instead you would use all that payload space for fuel.’

Although the M2 upgrade is not currently reflected in US Army budget plans, King noted that briefings now being assembled focus on ‘the relatively short payback period’ of the reset concept.

In addition to the M2 flights, King highlighted completion of the recent EFI engine upgrades as well as ongoing upgrades to the launcher to reflect the evolution of Shadow as well as the company’s recent contract award for an additional 51 Tactical Common Data Link systems.

Asked about weaponisation efforts to support the US Marine Corps requirement, he replied, ‘We’re doing the prototype effort but we really can’t speak a lot to it, because of the nature of it. But we are doing a prototype effort only for Marine Corps.’