The US Army plans to release a solicitation for a Block III engine for its Textron Systems RQ-7B Shadow tactical unmanned aircraft system (UAS) later this year, according to the army’s product manager for the platform.
“We are absolutely doing a full and open competition” for the engine, Lieutenant Colonel Tory Burgess said during a 6 June press briefing. He added that a request for proposals is still going through the Pentagon’s approval process but expects a December or January release.
Lt Col Burgess noted that there is not a large industrial base producing engines in the class that the army is seeking. UEL is the incumbent engine manufacturer on the Shadow and is also developing a higher-horsepower option for Block III, Henry Finneral, Textron Systems’ unmanned systems vice president of tactical UAS, said at the same briefing. However, Finneral said the solicitation is likely to attract multiple bidders. “With the opportunity that the army has put on the table, I think it will draw a lot of interest from industry,” he said. The army has explained that it plans to order 200 units for in-service and newly built aircraft.
In addition to a new engine, the army plans to purchase additional laser designators for its fleet of 104 air vehicles, Lt Col Burgess said. It will also pursue both weatherisation and software improvements to enable the Shadow to operate in all environments encountered by the Boeing AH-64 Apache combat helicopter with which it teams and to “make it easier on the soldier operator,” respectively, he said.
Since 1999 the Shadow has received a variety of upgrades, including all-digital, encrypted communications, increased bandwidth, and extended wings. However, the army is not pursuing an armed version of the platform, according to Lt Col Burgess. “The army currently has no requirement to weaponise the Shadow platform,” he said.
Source: IHS Jane’s 360