UAV operations center plans moving forward

Date: June 9, 2010

Plans are proceeding to build an estimated $8 million operations center at Camp Williams for the RQ-7 Shadow 200, a tactical unmanned aerial vehicle fielded to a Wisconsin Army National Guard unit.

Company B of the Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team began training on the equipment at Fort McCoy last fall. Camp Williams is a Wisconsin Army National Guard facility where the 32nd Brigade is headquartered, and is also co-located with Volk Field, a Wisconsin Air National Guard base approximately 30 miles from Fort McCoy.

Larger and heavier than most remote-controlled aircraft one might find at a hobby store, the Shadow requires a rail launcher to become airborne and a suitable area for landing. It can reach heights of 15,000 feet but generally does not exceed 10,000 feet, and has a maximum range of 125 kilometers. The UAV also costs approximately $40 per hour to fly, so it's not for the mere hobbyist.

The Shadow 200 has been referred to as a drone, a generic term for all UAVs, according to Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Sampson, readiness noncommissioned officer for Company B. However, he said the Shadow should not be confused with a Predator.

"The Predator is a larger aircraft, used primarily by the Air Force," Sampson explained. He also said the Predator can fly higher and is an armed vehicle, whereas the Shadow 200's payload is a camera.

The Shadow 200 will be used tactically for target acquisition, aerial reconnaissance and surveillance, and can also serve as a deterrent to hostile forces by its presence overhead - serving notice that they are being watched. But it also has domestic applications, as seen when the Shadow was deployed to assess the situation on the ground following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Sampson said the new technology translates to new training opportunities for both his unit and the 32nd Brigade.

Operating and maintaining the four UAVs will be the responsibility of a single platoon in Company B Each aircraft requires its own launching crew as well as two operators - one to pilot the craft, and one for the surveillance camera. The Shadow Operating System computers, not human operators, land the UAV. All told, 22 Soldiers are required to support the four aircraft. A Shadow crew trainer arrived at Camp Williams in February. The trainer, a work station replica, can facilitate two pilots, two camera operators and one maintainer.

Designs for the 10,298-square-foot building - which will provide training, maintenance, operations and storage space for the UAV platoon - are expected by October, with construction projected to begin in December of 2011 and conclude by December 2012. The state Building Commission approved the project last month.