$1.5M, Maybe Trump should look into the cost of these.

An unmanned aircraft launched Tuesday from Fort Huachuca, Arizona, lost connectivity and hasn't been found, Army officials said Friday.

Soldiers from the 14th Brigade Engineer Battalion -- which is part of 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division -- visiting from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, launched the RQ-7Bv2 Shadow on Tuesday evening, the release said. The aircraft took off from the Hubbard Landing Zone on Fort Huachuca's East Range before losing communication.

"Despite considerable efforts to locate the missing Shadow, it has not been found and is thought to have disintegrated upon impact somewhere in the local area," the Army said in a statement.

The Shadow is a rapidly deployable, short-range airborne reconnaissance system, according to the Army. It can fly for eight to nine hours and cover a distance of 125 kilometers.

It weighs 450 pounds, has a wingspan of 20 feet and a fuel capacity of 58 liters. Each Shadow costs about $1.5 million.

https://www.armytimes.com/arti...s-missing-in-arizona

I just hope it had not been hijacked.

flashguy

"Rancher Mark Brazell has reported finding the remnants of a mysterious craft on his property."

We have the technology to trace cars, trucks, phones, and laptops but we can't trace military drones?

I was one of the aircrew that spent 10 hours looking for it yesterday - 6 of it in the air at 1000 feet and 90 knots

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
I was one of the aircrew that spent 10 hours looking for it yesterday - 6 of it in the air at 1000 feet and 90 knots

CAP by chance ???

yep

*closes garage door*

Drone?!? Nope haven't seen a drone anywhere.

*fidgets nervously*

I'd hate to be the IO for that FLIPL.

1.5M and it doesn't have some sort of a long lasting locator ping?

I'm not up on drones or that technology but I would have thought it would have some kind of a locator.

Sounds like a find my drone app needs to be designed!

What the hell is an engineer battalion doing with a drone?

Maybe it decided to follow Craig Button's flight plan?

quote:

Originally posted by SapperSteel:
What the hell is an engineer battalion doing with a drone?

I'm guessing they use it to perform aerial surveys for potential build sites. Back in 1972-1975 I'd have loved to have one to search for bare hills on which to locate mobile radars.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by oldfireguy:
1.5M and it doesn't have some sort of a long lasting locator ping?

I'm not up on drones or that technology but I would have thought it would have some kind of a locator.

Yeah I call bs. You can get them on a $1000 Dollar commercial drone that will tell you where it is within a few feet.

We lose these things all the time. They lose connection and stop responding to pilot commands. DART (downed aircraft recovery teams) spend most of their time looking for unmanned craft.

quote:

Originally posted by 1s1k:

quote:

Originally posted by oldfireguy:
1.5M and it doesn't have some sort of a long lasting locator ping?

I'm not up on drones or that technology but I would have thought it would have some kind of a locator.

Yeah I call bs. You can get them on a $1000 Dollar commercial drone that will tell you where it is within a few feet.

quote:

is thought to have disintegrated upon impact somewhere in the local area," the Army said in a statement.

Not much of it left if that statement is true to send much of a signal.

They need to spend a couple hundred on each and install an iphone so they can use the find my iphone app!

 
It probably fell in the crack.
 

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
I'd hate to be the IO for that FLIPL.

I think a FLIPL has a limit in regards to the rank of the individual that lost it.

O3 lost 8 pair of binos and it was written off as a property book error. PFC Snuffy lost an ACOG during a mission and got hammered. It would be interesting to see who signed for the Shadow last.