Bulking up: Army's Shadow unmanned aircraft receiving upgrades for longer missions.

• Author: Jean, Grace V.

HUNT VALLEY, Md. -- The gray fuselages of the Army's workhorse unmanned system, the Shadow, line up on wooden carts in preparation to proceed through final assembly at this facility.

Business has been booming for the aircraft's manufacturer, AAI Corp., a subsidiary of Textron Inc.

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On the far wall hangs a large banner that tallies the number of flight hours the remotely operated aircraft has flown in combat --well over 400,000. Workers in December were anticipating that the total would hit 500,000 shortly.

When the Shadow was originally conceived, it was meant to fly only a couple hours a week. In current combat operations, the drone is supporting soldiers around-the-clock. The Army is planning a series of upgrades to increase its reliability and system capabilities. A beefier variant is also in the works, officials say.

The Army and the Marine Corps have ordered 115 Shadow systems. Each includes four RQ-7B air vehicles, two ground control stations and four portable video receivers in addition to a launcher, two automatic landing systems and other data terminals, humvees and trailers. So far, 76 systems have been fielded -- 69 to the Army and seven to the Marine Corps. To meet the goal of 102 Army systems and 13 Marine Corps systems by 2015, about one to two systems are being fielded per month.

During a tour of the manufacturing facility located about 15 miles north of Baltimore, the company's UAV production manager, Jack Barsotti, says that 75 workers put in 10-hour days, four days a week, to keep the production line moving at a steady pace. They are building about 10 Shadow aircraft a month. He points out that half of the work on the program is focused on refurbishing battle worn equipment and producing spare parts.

Across the way, engineers are working overtime to service Shadow engines, which need to be rebuilt every 250 hours of operation, Barsotti says. The company is averaging about 18 to 30 engines a week.

Workers last fall began integrating an electronic fuel injection system into the aircraft after Army officials determined that the majority of Shadow accidents resulted from fuel and oil-related problems in the propulsion system. Particularly during winter operations, the oil tends to be less viscous and can cause malfunctions. A blended oil is being used as a temporary fix to help withstand cold temperatures while officials look for a new oil system as a long-term solution.

"The electronic fuel injection system will make that [aircraft] much more reliable," Col. Gregory Gonzalez, project manager of the Army's UAS project office, tells reporters in Washington.

The system, however, will have no impact upon the current engine maintenance cycle, says Barsotti. The Shadow's engines have the capability to "run hot" at a high rotations-per-minute to power ratio, which means that they are pretty much shot after 250 hours, he explains.

Part of the area next to the engine testing cell is draped off Barsotti says this where construction is under way on a new cell to accommodate the larger upgraded Shadow that is expected to start going through the lines shortly.

Because the Army wants to...