AAI RQ-7 Shadow

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAI_RQ-7_Shadow

The AAI RQ-7 Shadow is an American unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) used by the
United States Army, Australian Army and Swedish Army for reconnaissance,
surveillance, target acquisition and battle damage assessment. Launched from a
trailer-mounted pneumatic catapult, it is recovered with the aid of arresting
gear similar to jets on an aircraft carrier. Its gimbal-mounted, digitally
stabilized, liquid nitrogen-cooled electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) camera
relays video in real time via a C-band line-of-sight data link to the ground
control station (GCS).

The US Army's 2nd Battalion, 13th Aviation Regiment at Fort Huachuca, Arizona,
trains soldiers, Marines, and civilians in the operation and maintenance of the
Shadow UAS. The Shadow is operated in the U.S. Army at brigade-level.

The RQ-7 Shadow is the result of a continued US Army search for an effective
battlefield UAS after the cancellation of the Alliant RQ-6 Outrider aircraft.
AAI Corporation followed up their RQ-2 Pioneer with the Shadow 200, a similar,
more refined UAS. In late 1999, the army selected the Shadow 200 to fill the
tactical UAS requirement, redesignating it the RQ-7. Army requirements specified
a UAS that used an aviation gasoline engine, could carry an
electro-optic/infrared imaging sensor turret, and had a minimum range of 31
miles (50 kilometers) with four-hour, on-station endurance. The Shadow 200
offered at least twice that range, powered by a 38 hp (28 kW) rotary engine. The
specifications also dictated that UAS would be able to land in an athletic
field.

The aircraft is part of a larger system which currently uses the M1152-series of
Humvees for ground transport of all ground and air equipment. A Shadow 200
system consists of four aircraft, three of which are transported in the Air
Vehicle Transporter (AVT). The fourth is transported in a specially designed
storage container to be used as a spare. The AVT also tows the launcher. The AVT
Support Vehicle and trailer contain extra equipment to launch and recover the
aircraft, such as the Tactical Automatic Landing System. Maintenance equipment
for the aircraft is stored in the Maintenance Section Multifunctional (MSM)
vehicle and trailer as well as the M1165 MSM Support Vehicle and its associated
trailer.

Two Humvee-mounted Ground Control Stations (GCS), also part of the Shadow 200
system, control the aircraft in flight. Each station has an associated Ground
Data Terminal (GDT), which takes commands generated by the GCS and modulates
them into radio waves received by the aircraft in flight. The GDT receives video
imagery from the payload, as well as telemetry from the aircraft, and sends this
information to the GCS. A trailer, towed by the M1165 GCS support vehicle,
carries the GDT and houses a 10 kW Tactical Quiet Generator to provide power for
its associated GCS. The Shadow 200 system also includes a Portable Ground
Control Station (PGCS) and Portable Ground Data Terminal (PGDT), which are
stripped-down versions of the GCS and GDT designed as a backup to the two GCSs.

A fielded Shadow 200 system requires 22 soldiers to operate it. Army modelling
indicates that crew workload is highest at takeoff, and second-highest at
landing.

The Shadow is restricted from operating in bad weather conditions, not being
meant to fly through rain and with sensors that cannot see through clouds.


Role
Tactical reconnaissance UAS for ground maneuver forces

Manufacturer
AAI Corporation

First flight
1991

Introduction
2002

Status
Active, in production

Primary users
United States Army
9 other users

Number built
500+

Unit cost

Per system: US$15.5 million (2011 dollars
Per aircraft: US$750,000.00 (2011 dollars)

Developed from
AAI RQ-2 Pioneer

By July 2007, the Shadow platform accumulated 200,000 flight hours, doubling its
previous record of 100,000 hours in 13 months. The system then surpassed 300,000
flight hours in April 2008, and by May 2010, the Shadow system had accumulated
over 500,000 flight hours. As of 2011, the Shadow had logged over 709,000 hours.
The Shadow platform has flown over 37,000 sorties in support of operations in
Iraq and Afghanistan by US Army and Army National Guard units. On 6 August 2012,
AAI announced that the Shadow had achieved 750,000 flight hours during more than
173,000 missions. More than 900,000 flight hours had been logged by Shadow UAVs
by the end of June 2014.

The Shadow did not see service in the Afghanistan campaign of 2001–2002, but it
did fly operational missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The
operating conditions in Iraq proved hard on the UAVs, with heat and sand leading
to engine failures, resulting in a high-priority effort to find fixes with
changes in system technology and operating procedures. Shadow UAS have since
flown more than 600,000 combat hours in support of the Wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan.

In 2007, the United States Marine Corps began to transition from the RQ-2
Pioneer to the RQ-7 Shadow. VMU-1, VMU-2 completed their transition from the
RQ-2 to the RQ-7 and ScanEagle while VMU-3 and VMU-4 were activated as Shadow
and ScanEagle elements. VMU-3 was activated on 12 September 2008 and VMU-4
conducted its inaugural flight on 28 September 2010 in Yuma, Arizona. In October
2007, VMU-1 became the first Marine Corps squadron to see combat in Iraq. VMU-2
deployed a Shadow detachment to Afghanistan in 2009, with VMU-3 following in
January 2010.

The Navy provided personnel for four Shadow platoons in support of army brigades
deployed in Iraq. The first two platoons returned from 6-month tours in Iraq in
January and February 2008. The Navy personnel went through the Army's training
program at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

On 29 July 2018, the U.S. Marine conducted its final launch of the RQ-7B during
RIMPAC exercises before retiring it. Since first deploying with Marines to Iraq
in October 2007, the aircraft eventually equipped four tactical UAS squadrons,
flying some 39,000 hours during 11 operational deployments. The Shadow was
replaced by the RQ-21 Blackjack, which was first deployed in 2014.

The Shadow system has also received a special airworthiness certificate
(experimental) from the Federal Aviation Administration authorizing operations
at Benson Municipal Airport, in 2007, a general aviation facility in
southeastern Arizona. This airworthiness certificate was one of the first issued
by the FAA permitting an unmanned aircraft to operate at a public-use airport
that serves general aviation, and the first FAA certificate covering the
system's technologically sophisticated automated landing system. This is
currently the only FAA certification category available to UAS manufacturers.

On 2 Feb, 2017, A Shadow launched from an outlying airfield near Fort Huachuca,
AZ disappeared. After a fruitless search, the Army concluded it had crashed. It
was found 9 days later in the mountains west of Denver.

Specifications (200 Family)

General characteristics
Length: 11.2 ft (3.4 m)
Wingspan: 14 ft (4.3 m)
Height: 3.3 ft (1.0 m)
Empty weight: 186 lb (84 kg)
Gross weight: 375 lb (170 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Wankel UAV Engine 741 used only with Silkolene Synthetic Oil, 38
hp (28 kW)

Performance
Maximum speed: 127 mph; 204 km/h (110 kn)
Cruise speed: 81 mph; 130 km/h (70 kn)
Range: 68 mi (59 nmi; 109 km)
Endurance: 6 h/ 9 h Increased Endurance
Service ceiling: 15,000 ft (4,600 m) ELOS (Electronic Line Of Sight)

Note: When outfitted with IE (Increased Endurance) Wings, the CRP
(Communications Relay Package) and the 1102 engine, endurance time is increased
to 9 hours, wing span is increased to approx. 22 feet (6.7 m), and the service
ceiling is 18,000 ft (only with authorization).




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