Crew at Redstonefinds test plate'continuously full'
If it weren't raining so hard on this Wednesday morning, Brian Ilgenfritz would be flying the Shadow.
Instead, he and part of his crew of seven are inside the north end of a big hangar at Redstone Army Airfield, taking a wrench to one of the Army's most popular unmanned aerial systems.
"Right now we are testing different propellers for performance," said Ilgenfritz, site manager for the Shadow program.
They work for AAI Corp., which makes the Shadow in Hunt Valley, Md., as well as other unmanned aerial vehicles. This is the Shadow 200, designated the RQ7B by the military, and used by the Army and Marine Corps.
It's about 11 feet long, has a 14-foot wingspan and is loaded with cameras, sensors and communications gear. It gives soldiers on the ground a remote-controlled, detailed look at their surroundings from thousands of feet high, day or night, allowing them to see vehicles and other targets many miles away.
The standard prop that a rotary engine spins at the rear of the Shadow to push it around the sky has two blades. This morning, a four-blade carbon fiber version is being fitted on this test aircraft.
"It's a lower-noise propellor," Ilgenfritz said.
Among other tasks, the team in the Shadow UAS Test Detachment at Redstone has been seeking the best compromise between propeller performance and stealth.
Shadows have been flying in Iraq and Afghanistan for a few years now, and are constantly updated to meet the needs of the men and women on the ground. The aircraft do not carry weapons, but have recently been tested with a laser-designator that can be used to guide missiles to a target.
The UAVs may someday also be used to deliver medical or other supplies.
"Our test plate is continuously full," Ilgenfritz said. "Everything that the soldier uses comes through here for testing. ... It's a great feeling. Everything we do is supporting the soldier, the war fighter."
A typical Shadow system has four aircraft, ground control stations, launch and recovery equipment and vehicles for equipment and personnel. More than 70 systems have been delivered to the Army and over 100 more are under contract, according to AAI's Web site.
"The Shadow system has nearly 400,000 flight hours right now," Ilgenfritz said.
Most of the men in the test detachment are former soldiers, he said, and have visited the troops in the field with Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
"I think the happiest people are the soldiers on the ground," said Ryan Lozier, maintenance manager for the Shadow team.
"They request it," Lozier said. "It's been a valuable force multiplier for them."
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