YUMA PROVING GROUNDS, Ariz. – Testers and test support staff from Fort Hood’s U.S. Army Operational Test Command’s Aviation Test Directorate put the upgraded Shadow unmanned aircraft through the rigorous paces of a Limited Users Test here in the high desert of Arizona.

The Shadow, or Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System, is used to locate, recognize and identify targets for a brigade tactical operations center. In the hands of Soldiers since 2002, TUAS uses Global Positioning System and live video feeds to provide reconnaissance and surveillance information to brigade commanders.

The AVTD team conducted their LUT on the TUAS to collect data so Army evaluators can assess improvements made to the system since the last operational test in 2008. System improvements include a new rotary engine; a sensor package with laser designator, range finder and pointer; a communications relay package; and a one-station ground control system, according to Jann Stovall, AVTD’s acting director. AVTD’s operational test report is provided to the U.S. Army Evaluation Center as input to a materiel release decision, he explained.

“Soldiers from 2nd Special Troops Battalion in Fort Carson, Colorado, conducted missions at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., that included reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition and target engagement for the LUT,” Brent Bush, AVTD’s test officer for the LUT, said. “We focused on the ability of the system operators to perform their war time mission and conducted cooperative missile engagements using laser range finding and designation operations with the upgraded Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System.”

A TUAS platoon executed missions in support of a brigade combat team, according to Bush, conducting missions that supported the brigade commander’s intent. Mission planning began at the BCT tactical operations center and was then passed down to the TUAS platoon for final planning, he said.

“During mission execution, Soldier operators used the laser rangefinder/designator to provide target locations and designate targets in support of OH-58D helicopter Scout Weapons Team engagements and indirect fire missions with M-109 self-propelled howitzer crews,” Bush said. “The TUAS crews transmitted real time information and reports to the TOC.

“The test exercised the ability of the system operators to conduct flight operations, detect and report targets and engage targets as directed,” he said.

Data collected will help confirm the suitability and effectiveness of the system improvements and verify that the incorporation of the new sensor with the laser rangefinder/designator does not degrade the TUAS performance, according to Bush.

“Soldiers have been using the tactical unmanned aircraft system since the initial fielding in 2002,” Bush said. “Several requests for the added capability of the rangefinder/designator came from the theater of operations.”

According to Stovall, AVTD is one of seven test directorates under the command of USAOTC, which is a subordinate command of the Army Test and Evaluation Command, located at Alexandria, Va. USAOTC’s mission is to test and assess systems, equipment and technology in realistic environments using typical Soldiers to determine whether systems are suitable, survivable and effective, he said.