WASHINGTON \u2014 A recent contract award to Textron for \u201cBlock 3\u201d upgrade kits will give the Army\u2019s RQ-7 Shadow a souped up engine and other modifications that will make the drone more survivable, a company official said Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The $41 million contract, which was awarded last month, includes funds to integrate and qualify the Block 3 modifications as well as 36 upgrade kits, said William Irby, Texton\u2019s senior vice president and general manager for unmanned systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the biggest capability enhancements provided in Block 3 is a new engine, which boosts the Shadow\u2019s current 38 horsepower motor to a more powerful 49 horsepower system, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, there are a number of other important benefits to the Block 3 kit, including the integration of the joint tactical radio system, voiceover capability and a more powerful mission computer. The upgrades will make it more survivable in bad weather, making it able to withstand up to two inches of rain per hour, and give it a more powerful cooling system, Irby said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also adds mufflers, which will reduce the noise the aircraft makes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne of the points of feedback over the years was that the Shadow was too loud.\u201d There was a benefit to that sometime, because adversaries would stay indoors when they could hear it, he said, but the mufflers will allow the Army operate it in a more clandestine manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Army has bought 114 Shadow systems so far, each of which includes four air vehicles, two ground control stations, and two datalinks, Irby said. Once the Block 3 kits are delivered, it will be up to the service to decide when and how its RQ-7s are upgraded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMost likely, at this point, those updates will be done on a kit basis in the field,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that specific schedule has not been laid out yet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The $41 million contract, which was awarded last month, includes funds to integrate and qualify the Block 3 modifications as well as 36 upgrade kits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":46997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":59,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[59,106,29,32,25,110,57,21],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3188],"class_list":["post-34648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ausa","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-newsletters","category-show-reporter","category-show-reporter-newsletters","category-uas","category-unmanned"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"YRKQHZPW3FEUTIYZIQIMQFNFNQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/digital-show-dailies\/ausa\/2017\/10\/10\/rq-7-shadows-to-get-improved-engine-mission-computers\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n