In June 2006, AAI Corporation, prime contractor for the U.S. Army's Shadow, announced that the Shadow surpassed 100,000 flight hours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, with an average of seven or eight Shadow aircraft flying simultaneously every hour, day and night.

Athena supplies the Shadow's GuideStar-211e flight controls, or "ACE-II," as AAI calls the solution. The ACE-II system includes a Selective Availability/Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM), which enhances battlefield utility.

"We continue to be pleased with the ACE-II's performance during the Shadow's extremely high combat operation tempo," said Steve Reid, AAI's Vice President of Unmanned Aircraft Systems. "Athena's expertise in flight controls and navigation and demonstrated commitment to our program significantly contributes to the Shadow's reliability."

As pioneers in developing flight controls and navigation systems for UASs, Athena has a long history of developing high-performance control and navigation solutions for a wide range of unmanned vehicles, from Tactical UASs, to Combat UASs, ducted fan UASs, target drones, helicopters and missiles. Athena's GuideStar products range in size, weight and capabilities, designed to accommodate different UAS vehicle characteristics, while 90% of the core technology is reused in each UAS program.

The reuse of the technology is enabling the industry to standardize on flight control and navigation systems and customers to benefit from the GuideStar's years of field-proven performance and tens of thousands of flight hours.

Athena CEO Dr. David Vos commented: "The Shadow's 100,000 flight-hour milestone demonstrates AAI's leadership position in developing, deploying and operating UASs for use in harsh combat conditions. We are proud to be contributing to their success."

Related Links
Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International