RQ-7 Shadow

RQ-7 Shadow
Shadow UAV in Iraq
Role	Tactical reconnaissance UAV 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

The AAI RQ-7 Shadow is an American unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) used by the United States Army, Marine Corps, 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 UAV. 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 UAV 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 UAV. In late 1999, the army selected the Shadow 200 to fill the tactical UAV requirement, redesignating it the RQ-7. Army requirements specified a UAV that used a 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 UAV would be able to land in an athletic field.