Textron awarded contract worth up to $607M to upgrade Shadow aircraft

Textron has received a contract worth up to $607 million from the Army to upgrade the Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System, the company announced today.

The company will "provide contract logistics support, field services and engineering support along with the retrofit of the existing Shadow Block II Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (TUAS) to the upgraded Block III configuration," according to the press release.

The award comes after the completed Follow-on Operational Test and Evaluation of the Shadow Block III configuration, which was completed in October last year.

The work will be done in Textron's Hunt Valley, MD, facility over a five-year period and will modernize the current Block II and lead product, support and sustainment activities for the fleet, according to the press release.

"This award will enable the maintenance of the Shadow Unmanned Aircraft System and provides repairs and spares to support critical mission readiness levels for fielded systems," the press release states.