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DOT&E FY2000 Annual Report

SHADOW 2000 TACTICAL UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (TUAV)
SYSTEM

Army ACAT II Program		Prime Contractor
Total Number of Systems:	44	AAI Corporation
Total Program Cost (TY$):	$738.9M (RDT&E and Procurement)
Average unit Procurement cost (TY$)	$ 8.0M

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION & CONTRIBUTION TO JOINT VISION 2020

The Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) system is a ground maneuver brigade commander's primary day/night reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, and battle damage assessment system. The TUAV provides the commander with a number of benefits to include: enhanced situational awareness, a target acquisition capability, ability to conduct battle damage assessment, and enhanced battle management capabilities. The combination of these benefits contributes to the commander's dominant situational awareness allowing him to maneuver to points of positional advantage with speed and precision in order to conduct decisive operations. The TUAV, in conjunction with other systems, will provide the tactical commander with information superiority contributing to the full-dimensional protection of his force and precision engagement of the enemy.

The Shadow 200 is a small, lightweight, tactical UAV system. A system comprises three air vehicles, two HMMWV-based ground control stations, an air vehicle transport HMMWVs, two HMMWVs with trailers for personnel, a HMMWV with Maintenance Shelter, one portable ground control station, and four remote video terminals. The air vehicle has a gross take-off weight of 350 pounds with a wingspan of 13 feet. It can carry a 60-pound payload and is currently equipped with the POP 200 electro-optic and infrared camera. The POP 200 provides full motion color TV and infrared video. The maximum range is 125 kilometers (limited by data link capability), and the air vehicle can loiter up to four hours at 50 kilometers. Operations are generally conducted from 8,000 to 10,000 feet above ground level during the day and 6,000 to 8,000 feet above ground level at night. Automatic landing and take-off can be from unimproved areas as small as 100 meters by 50 meters.

The operational tempo calls for the TUAV to provide 12 hours of continuous operations on station within a 24-hour period. The system will be required to surge to 18 hours within a 24-hour period for up to three consecutive days. After 72 hours, the TUAV system may be reconstituted during a recovery day when the operational tempo requires only 8 hours of operations on station within 24-hour period. The system must be able to keep pace with the brigade's movement and rapid setup and tear down times are required. The control of the air vehicle may be passed between from other control stations or the portable ground control station to facilitate rapid movement and allow continuous flight operations.

In October 1995, JROC recommended termination of the Hunter Short Range Joint Tactical UAV (JTUAV) program and proposed an ACTD approach to satisfy JTUAV requirements and complement the newly developed Predator endurance UAV. In May 1996, the Joint Program Office awarded Alliant Techsystems a two-year ACTD contract to deliver six complete Outrider systems with spares by March 1998. The Outrider program experienced many setbacks and delays. Military participation in the program was reduced from two years to two months, and this limited the Services' ability to fully assess the Outrider's military utility. In November 1998, the JROC directed the Navy and the Army to pursue separate air vehicle solutions to satisfy their tactical UAV requirements. The JROC subsequently validated the Army's TUAV ORD in March 1999 and approved three Key Performance Parameters: MOGAS fuel for the air vehicle and generators, day/night passive imagery payload, and C⁴I interoperability with the Army's Joint Tactical Architecture, the Army Battle Command System (ABCS), and JSTARS Common Ground Station.

The Army conducted a systems capability demonstration (SCD) with four contractors participating during October and November 1999 at Ft. Huachuca, AZ. The SCD was used to establish the baseline for system technical and operational performance, and was a significant evaluation factor during the TUAV source selection process. The U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command provided the source selection board an assessment of each system's potential operational effectiveness and suitability. In December 1999, a Low Rate Initial Production contract was awarded to AAI, Corporation for four Shadow 200 TUAV Low Rate Initial Production systems. The program manager is using a best value approach; i.e., allowing the contractor to trade-off threshold performance characteristics in order to meet higher priority requirements.

Although JROC encouraged the Army to pursue a system that could operate at 200-kilometer ranges and permit a single TUAV system to meet all the Army's UAV requirements, the Shadow 200 is limited in range, endurance and payload capacity. A Block II study is currently underway to define a TUAV system that will come as close as possible to the objective requirements of the TUAV program.

The TEMP was approved prior to the Milestone II and contract award. The document is being updated and will be coordinated prior to the next Milestone.

No operational testing was conducted this year on the Shadow 200. The first flight of the Block 0 Shadow 200, since the SCD, took place June 5, 2000 at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD. The prime contractor Block 0 flight tests are to evaluate components planned for the Block I Low Rate Initial Production systems. The conversion from Block 0 to Block I involves the integration of several systems into the TUAV like the Tactical Automatic Landing System and the POP 200 payload.

FY00 SHADOW 2000 TACTICAL UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (TUAV) SYSTEM