Textron Systems unveiled the NIGHTWARDEN™ Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (TUAS) at the 2017 Paris Air Show, a production model of its...
Textron Systems unveiled the NIGHTWARDEN™ Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (TUAS) at the 2017 Paris Air Show, a production model of its developmental Shadow® M2 TUAS.
With a range of up to 1100 kilometers, the Nightwarden is designed for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance missions and also have limited ground strike capability with Textron Fury, a modified Thales UK Lightweight Multirole Missile.
The Nightwarden can be equipped with an optional SATCOM package, giving its performance like the larger Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV platforms.
The NIGHTWARDEN TUAS offers a maximum speed of up to 90 knots, an endurance of up to 15 hours and a payload capacity of up to 130 pounds.
The new platform also features a water-cooled, rotary engine, which provides a reduced acoustic signature, as well as increased propulsion performance and greater electrical output over Textron Systems’ previous TUAS models.
The system features an open architecture and a dual-payload bay, allowing for additional capabilities such as communication relay, sense-and-avoid equipment, or additional payloads such as electronic attack, signals intelligence or communications intelligence.
The NIGHTWARDEN TUAS has been subject to significant internal testing and demonstration efforts, tallying more than 400 hours of flight time for potential customers including delegations from Europe, the Mideast and the Asia-Pacific region.
The new system, which has demonstrated runway-independence by landing on unimproved surfaces, typically uses an automated take-off and landing system, but also incorporates enhanced landing gear, remote taxi and an air vehicle parachute for emergency operations.
Since its introduction in 1999, the Shadow TUAS has accumulated more than one million flight hours, making it the only unmanned aircraft system of its size to accomplish this significant milestone.
Today, the Shadow TUAS conducts ISR missions, as well as target acquisition operations for the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), as well as armed forces in Italy, Sweden and Australia.
