AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), an operating unit of Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, along with Phoenix Global Support, announced today the introduction of new multi-mission payloads for its renowned Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Designed to be housed in a modular pod and carried on the hard points on the Shadow aircraft's wings, multi-mission payloads are exchanged easily based on the unique requirements of the supported mission. Some of the early multi-mission payload applications address urgent warfighter requirements including secure, third-generation, or 3G, telecommunications uplink and downlink; signals intelligence, or SIGINT; measurement and signatures intelligence, or MASINT; state-of-the-art communications; precision geolocation; airborne cellular network; software-defined communications relay; and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear detection.

"The Shadow has always been a versatile system, performing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as communications relay and laser designation," says AAI UAS Senior Vice President and General Manager Steven Reid. "Modular multi-mission payloads will expand the user's toolkit even more. This provides greater capability in the field, with minimal logistics. One asset can do it all."

AAI UAS' modular pod design enables continued growth of the multi-mission payload family as warfighter needs and payload technologies develop.