Milestone Follows Additional $107.8 Million in System Orders
Hunt Valley, MD - May 19, 2008 - AAI Corporation, an operating unit of Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced today that its Shadow UAS have achieved 300,000 cumulative flight hours in service with the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. In fact, 91 percent of these flight hours were amassed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
"It is gratifying to see how mature our Shadow UAS technology has become in the hands of America's soldiers and Marines," says AAI's Vice President of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Steve Reid. "The frequency with which we're achieving these milestones is a testament to the robustness of the system, as well as the excellent partnership we have with our customers to ensure our technology is meeting the mark."
In fact, this milestone was reached only 10 months after the systems reached 200,000 total flight hours, and 22 months after the first 100,000 flight hours were accumulated.
This milestone comes on the heels of receipt by AAI of significant orders for two additional systems from the U.S. Army, five additional systems from the Marine Corps and a training system for the National Guard -- all contracted through the U.S. Army Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program Executive Office for Aviation. To date, a total of 96 Shadow systems have been ordered for use by the Army, Marines and National Guard and 65 have been delivered to these customers.
"America's military services are focused on creating jointness and interoperability, and we're proud to be part of this vital mission with our Shadow UAS program," says AAI Senior Vice President and General Manager Ellen Lord. "We enable these efficiencies for the Army, National Guard and Marine Corps not only through design, production and delivery of our combat-proven Shadow system technologies, but through state-of-the-art training capabilities and performance based logistics services."
About AAI
AAI Corporation designs, produces, and supports aerospace and defense systems through its direct and indirect wholly owned subsidiaries, AAI Services Corporation, Aerosonde Pty Ltd, ESL Defence Limited, and Symtx, Inc. Its high-technology products and services include unmanned aircraft systems, training and simulation systems, automated aerospace test and maintenance equipment, armament systems, aviation ground support equipment, and logistical, engineering, and supply chain services. AAI Corporation is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Textron Inc. More information is available at www.aaicorp.com.
About Textron Systems
Textron Systems Corporation has been providing innovative solutions to the defense, homeland security and aerospace communities for over 50 years. Known for its precision smart weapons, intelligent battlefield systems, surveillance systems, intelligence software solutions, aircraft control components, piston engines, armored vehicles and unmanned aircraft systems, Textron Systems includes AAI, HR Textron, Lycoming Engines, Overwatch Geospatial Operations, Overwatch Tactical Operations, Textron Defense Systems, and Textron Marine & Land Systems. Textron Systems Corporation is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Textron Inc. More information is available at www.textronsystems.com.
About Textron Inc.
Textron Inc. is a $13.2 billion multi-industry company operating in 34 countries with approximately 44,000 employees. The company leverages its global network of aircraft, defense and intelligence, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft Company, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Greenlee, Fluid & Power, Textron Systems and Textron Financial Corporation. More information is available at www.textron.com.