RQ-7B Shadow 200 UAS - Fort Huachuca, Arizona
Posted by: BruceS
N 31° 33.719 W 110° 20.372
12R E 562680 N 3492075
Unmanned tactical reconnaissance aerial vehicle on display at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.
Waymark Code: WMHEDD
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 06/30/2013
Views: 6
Text of plaque:
RQ-7B Shadow 200 UAS
The AAI Corporation RQ-7 Shadow is an unarmed tactical reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle currently in active service with the United States Army and Marine Corps. The system serves as a day-night, target acquisition, surveillance and battlefield assessment platform by commanders on the ground. The RQ-7 Shadow has seen extensive service in the skies over Iraq and Afghanistan.
A Shadow system consists of four Shadow UAVs, a rail launch trailer, personnel vehicles and two ground stations. The Shadow is rail-launched and recovered on a runway via a tail hook and Tactical Automated Landing System (TALS). Preparation time to get a Shadow in the air can be as little as 1 hour.
The RQ-7B variant is an improvement over the original production A models in almost every way. The wings have been redesigned with a larger surface and new airfoil along with a new tail unit. Fuel capacity has been increased which has effectively increased the Shadow's operation endurance limit to 6 hours (up from 5 hours in initial production models). Payload options have been expanded and the data link system has been upgraded to the Tactical Common Data Link (TCDL). Production of the RQ-7B began in the summer of 2004.
102 Shadows are expected to be delivered with at least 20 already in operation as of January 2009. Shadows have flown over 37,000 sorties and 300,000 flight hours with United States Army, Army National Guard, and United States Marine Corps units in Iraq.
RQ-7 derives its name from the Department of Defense designation system for UAV's. The "R" stands for Reconnaissance while the "Q" designates it as an unmanned aircraft. The number "7" notes it as the seventh purposely developed unmanned aircraft in the series of unmanned aerial aircraft systems in service with the U.S. Military.