AAI Corporation has won a $12.6 million contract from the US Army Contracting command at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, to install Tactical Common Data Link equipment on two Shadow UAS.
The TCDL is a secure data link designed to send encrypted data and streaming video to ground stations at high speeds. The data link uses a Ku narrowband uplink for payload and vehicle control, and a wideband downlink for sending radar, imagery, video, and other sensor information to ground stations at speeds from 1.5 to 10.7 megabits per second over distances as far as 120 miles.
The Shadow UAS is a trailer-mounted, catapult-launched UAS for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. It is about 11 feet long with a 13-foot wingspan, has a gimbal-mounted stabilized electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) camera and other sensors and has a maximum takeoff weight of about 300 pounds.