Shadow UAS Racks Up More Than 1 Million Hours of Flight
Photo: Textron Systems.
In the spring of 2010, unmanned aircraft operated by the U.S. Army reached the milestone of one million flight hours.
That combined flights from the Raven, Hunter, Gray Eagle and Shadow UAS, with half of them coming from the Shadow alone. On June 6, Shadow maker Textron Systems announced that the unmanned aircraft had surpassed that same milestone, this time on its own.
“As the only UAS in its size to reach this milestone, our newest generation Shadow V2 offers the highest level of reliability, matched only by its broadened set of operational capabilities,” says Henry Finneral, Textron Systems’ unmanned systems vice president.
The Shadow was introduced in 1999, but has received numerous upgrades over the years, including all-digital communications, increased bandwidth, more onboard power, extended wings and engine improvements, among others. The Shadow V2 has also been demonstrated with its own Fury lightweight precision weapon.
The Shadow is currently in use by the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Special Operations Command and the militaries of Italy, Sweden and Australia. More than 85 percent of its million-plus flight hours occurred during combat operations, the company says.
One million flight hours is equal to a little over 114 years.
