ADF's Shadow 200 UAS as artillery spotter?

With the acquisition of two AAI Shadow 200 Tactical UAV (TUAV) systems comprising 18 air vehicles, ground control systems, vehicles and other support systems and training for some $175 million, the ADF is at long last on the road to wielding a superior ISTAR capability at the tactical level – where it is needed most.

But how is this capability going to be used?

Insofar as the ADF operators of the AAI Shadow 200 are being trained with their US counterparts it seems to us that the US Army’s TUAV CONOPS for the Shadow may provide some clues.

Bearing in mind the ADF’s acquisition of the M777A Light Gun and the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATDS) such a TUAV system, among its many other attributes, could perform as a target acquisition platform that can acquire targets, confirm that targets are still in place, assist in fire direction, and provide immediate feedback of results to shooters.

In this mode, the near real time video must be continually monitored and the video observer should have direct contact with the shooter.

AFATDS is an example of one of these sensor to shooter links.

During the weapons delivery phase, the TUAV can move to a loiter area or use altitude separation to de-conflict with strike aircraft or other weapons systems.

If the TUAV is unable to remain in the target area observing the target during the strike, it can return to the target area and provide near real time video of the battle damage at the conclusion of the strike.