Weapon Successfully Integrated onto Shadow® Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System
MARINE CORPS BASE, QUANTICO, Va. – SEPTEMBER 23, 2014 – Textron Systems Weapon & Sensor Systems, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) business, announced today a pair of successful live-fire demonstrations of its new FuryTM lightweight precision guided glide weapon off of a Shadow® Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System at the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.
The combined Textron Systems Weapon & Sensor Systems and Unmanned Systems team dropped Fury last month from a Shadow 200, engaging and detonating on the target. This marked the first live drop of the Fury and the first live weapon drop from the Unmanned Systems Shadow 200 aircraft configuration. The Textron Systems team, along with partner Thales UK, achieved this milestone within 15 months of initiating work on the small, lightweight weapon system.
Fury, equipped on a Shadow aircraft, is on display this week during the 2014 Modern Day Marine exposition at Textron Systems booth 2608.
“Our team is focused on quickly bringing new and affordable capability to the war fighter,” explains Weapon & Sensor Systems Senior Vice President and General Manager Ian Walsh. “Based on an understanding of our customers’ needs, we demonstrated – in a short period of time – Fury’s full TRL 7 capability in a realistic environment. Not only is the weapon simple to use, accurate and attractively priced, it’s an ideal complement to the trusted Shadow platform as well as other UAS or light attack aircraft. We’ve also proven that the lightweight weapon and carriage system creates very little drag, resulting in minimal operational impact to aircraft performance and endurance.”
Fury is equipped with a mature and proven warhead. The weapon’s tri-mode fuzing – impact, height of burst and delay – further enables a single Fury to address a broad target set, ranging from static and moving light armored vehicles to small boats and personnel.
The precision weapon uses a common interface for rapid integration on multiple manned and unmanned aircraft systems. Fury is guided by a GPS-aided inertial navigation unit system with a Semi-Active Laser Seeker terminal guidance capability. This enables the weapon to engage both stationary and moving targets within 1m accuracy, or fly to specific target coordinates.
Media Contact:
Tom Williams
Textron Systems
(410) 746-9391
twilliams@textronsystems.com
About Textron Systems
Textron Systems’ businesses develop and integrate products, services and support for aerospace and defense customers, as well as civil and commercial customers including those in law enforcement, security, border patrol and critical infrastructure protection around the globe. Harnessing agility and a broad base of expertise, Textron Systems’ innovative businesses design, manufacture, field and support comprehensive solutions that expand customer capabilities and deliver value. Textron Systems consists of its Advanced Information Solutions, Electronic Systems, Geospatial Solutions, Lycoming Engines, Marine & Land Systems, Support Solutions, TRU Simulation + Training, Unmanned Systems and Weapon & Sensor Systems businesses. More information is available at www.textronsystems.com.
About Textron Inc
Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, 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, Beechcraft, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Greenlee, and Textron Systems. For more information, visit www.textron.com.
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