Textron Pitches VTOL Shadow UAV to Australia
Textron Pitches VTOL Shadow UAV to Australia 11 Januari 2017 Textron VTOL Shadow UAV (photos : FlightGlobal, Textron) Textron Unmanned Systems is studying the feasibility of a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) variant of its RQ-7 Shadow unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which it hopes could be an upgrade option for the Australian Army"s ageing fleet. In 2016, the company revealed a VTOL variant of its smaller Aeronsonde UAV dubbed the HQ, and it is now assessing the possibility of transferring this technology to the Shadow. Both Australia and Sweden operate the older V1 variant of the UAV, but while Sweden is working under a sustainment contract that will keep the fleet flying until 2020, Australia is looking towards alternative VTOL systems. "I think they are looking more at the vertical take-off technology, and they haven"t warmed up to the V2 [digital Shadow] yet," Ed Fox, Textron Systems Unmanned Systems vice president of tactical unmanned aircraft systems, tol...