Textron Lands $607M Contract to Update Army RQ-7B Tactical UAS

A Textron (NYSE: TXT) business segment has secured a potential five-year, $607 million contract to engineer and convert the U.S. Army’s Shadow RQ-7B unmanned aircraft system to an updated configuration.

Textron Systems said Thursday it will perform technical and logistics work in addition to installing Block III features into the company-built tactical UAS to help the branch ensure Shadow fleet mission readiness.

Modernization work is taking place at a company facility in Hunt Valley, Maryland, and comes after the Army tested and evaluated the new configuration.

Shadow TUAS has a payload capacity of 95 pounds and can operate 8 to 9 hours at a line-of-sight range of up to 77.6 miles, according to Textron Systems.

The Block III system includes new features designed to increase the unmanned vehicle’s engine power, reduce its acoustic signature and support communications and high-definition video processing.

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