FARNBOROUGH, England, July 20 (UPI) -- Italy's Defense Ministry is buying four surveillance and reconnaissance drones from Textron's AAI Corp. for $64 million.
The deal for the Shadow 200 Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems was announced at the Farnborough Air Show in England.
"Our Shadow TUAS meet the mark for the Italian army's surveillance and reconnaissance requirements -- and then some," said Steven Reid, vice president of AAI's Unmanned Aircraft Systems. "The system's compact logistics footprint makes it easy to transport and operate under evolving battlefield conditions, as proven during more than 500,000 flight hours.
"In addition, the vast majority of Shadow TUAS' flight hours have taken place in Iraq and Afghanistan, so our customers can see firsthand that our systems deliver the performance and robustness they need."
The company said the system leverage AAI's interoperable One System Ground Control Station architecture to receive and disseminate battlefield video.
The system's design complies with NATO Standardization Agreement 4586, enhancing interoperability among international unmanned aircraft systems.
