AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems [TXT] has developed on its own funds the next step forward for the RQ-7B Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (TUAS) that will offer more capability in the same footprint and logistics, a company official said.
The initial Shadow M2 TUAS will have the basic core capability of the current Shadow, but “five times the current payload, a new propulsion system with 10 times the reliability of the current engine, and the cost savings is phenomenal,” Vance King, vice president TUAS at AAI Corp., said in an interview at the Army Aviation Association of America professional forum and exhibit here recently.
“The utility and operational value of this system will grow over the next few years,” he said. The M2 initially will be a reset aircraft taking advantage of the current infrastructure.
It’s important to maintain the tactical size of the TUAS, he said, and keep “backwards compatibility” with earlier Shadow models, he said.
The M2 was designed with feedback from soldiers and officers in the field as well as company field service representatives, King said.
The M2 will have a multi-fuel capable, increased reliability engine from Lycoming Engines, another Textron business. It also will have dual payload bays, an integrated communications relay capability, and satellite communications data link integration.
The new Shadow will have wing mounted multi-mission payloads that are modular and rapidly interchangeable, he said. Each payload pod equips Shadow for a specific mission, such as signals intelligence, CBRN detection, and cyberspace survey, interdiction and attack.
Shadow M2 will be able to provide reliable and secure mobile communications in unimproved spaces or in a Katrina-like post natural disaster environment.
“It can provide immediate connectivity, King said.
For example, AAI UAS’ Forward Airborne Secure Transmission and Communication (FASTCOM) external pods on a Shadow would form an end-to-end tactical communications system that allows users with a smart phone to access the TUAS imagery, intelligence sources and tactical messaging.
“Even though (Shadow) is getting larger, it’s keeping the same basic footprint,” King said. “It will stay in the same containers, and use the current launcher with some mods. It’s getting larger in terms of fuselage, but it’s about as long as it’s going to get and not lose the tactical edge. But the minute we can’t use the infrastructure, we’ve lost the mark.”
The Shadow M2 has almost double the endurance of its predecessor models, with the new fuselage, blended wing and multi-fuel engine, which allows the user more options and keeps costs down.
The M2 TUAS is more efficient because it can fly almost double the time, and makes fewer takeoffs and landings, reducing wear and tear, as well.
Shadow M2 offers beyond line of sight capability to extend communication ranges for soldiers on the ground, and also has a satellite communication communication capability.
The M2 will be flying late in the third quarter of this year or early in the fourth quarter, King said.
“The reality of it is the design will pay for itself in about two years because of cost savings and reliability,” King said. “The biggest (cost saving) is propulsion, where the current mean time between repairs is 250 hours. The new propulsion system is designed for a MTBR of 1,000 hours.
AAI could sell the M2 system via direct or Foreign Military Sales, though some capabilities may not be available for export. Other Shadow versions have been sold to nations such as Australia, Italy and Sweden.