New Aircraft Delivers Greater Payload Capacity And
Endurance
The Shadow M2 Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (TUAS) was
unveiled Monday at the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) 2011
Annual Meeting & Exposition by AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems
(UAS). The Shadow M2 is the next generation of AAI UAS' renowned,
battle-proven Shadow 200 TUAS, which has amassed nearly 700,000
flight hours with customers including the U.S. Army and Marine
Corps.
File Photo
With a wingspan of 25 feet, the Shadow M2 aircraft offers
greater endurance for longer mission capacity, as well as execution
of new mission profiles. Increased payload volume, dual payload
bays and external wing hard points provide additional room for
avionics, mission equipment, communication solutions and
sense-and-avoid equipment. This payload flexibility benefits both
tactical users requiring a multi-mission-capable asset, as well as
civil users requiring law enforcement, disaster response, homeland
security or scientific support. A new heavy fuel engine provided by
fellow Textron Systems operating unit Lycoming Engines is designed
to manned aircraft specifications to enhance aircraft performance
and reliability. The Shadow M2 can launch, fly and laser designate
at higher altitudes, and incorporates a larger parachute, simpler
equipment access and enhanced landing gear for greater ease of
use.
The Shadow M2's modular design and common avionics systems
architecture enables rapid reconfiguration for combined mission
capabilities, including: synthetic aperture radar (SAR) with ground
and dismount moving target indicators (GMTI/DMTI); wide-area
surveillance; signals intelligence; electronic warfare; Triclops,
the U.S. Army's multi-sensor payload system; satellite
communications; communications relay systems; and enhanced
electro-optical/infrared sensors with features such as SAR/GMTI,
short-wave infrared and high-definition capabilities.
"Our UAS customers need multi-mission solutions to achieve
tactical success and affordability," says AAI UAS Senior Vice
President & General Manager Steven Reid. "For that reason, our
current Shadow aircraft can accommodate communications relay, laser
designation, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
missions. The Shadow M2 brings even greater mission capability,
along with enhanced performance."
Supporting total life cycle affordability, the Shadow M2 is
compatible with all of the Shadow 200 aircraft's support equipment
and infrastructure. Operations and maintenance retraining are
minimized as a result. For current Shadow TUAS users, these
streamlined logistics and improved reliability provide an
affordable, rapidly deployable path to next-generation
capabilities.