Launched from a trailer-mounted pneumatic catapult, it is recovered with the aid of arresting gear similar to jets on an aircraft carrier.

Its gimbal-mounted, digitally stabilized, liquid nitrogen-cooled electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) camera relays video in real time via a C-band line-of-sight data link to the ground control station (GCS).

The US Army's 2nd Battalion, 13th Aviation Regiment at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, trains soldiers, Marines, and civilians in the operation and maintenance of the Shadow UAS.

[3] The RQ-7 Shadow is the result of a continued US Army search for an effective battlefield UAS after the cancellation of the Alliant RQ-6 Outrider aircraft.

Army requirements specified a UAS that used an aviation gasoline engine, could carry an electro-optic/infrared imaging sensor turret, and had a maximum range of 31 miles (50 kilometers) with four-hour, on-station endurance.

[4] The RQ-7 Shadow 200 unmanned aircraft system is of a high-wing, constant chord pusher configuration with a twin-tailboom empennage and an inverted v-tail.

The AVT Support Vehicle and trailer contain extra equipment to launch and recover the aircraft, such as the Tactical Automatic Landing System.

Each station has an associated Ground Data Terminal (GDT), which takes commands generated by the GCS and modulates them into radio waves received by the aircraft in flight.

Moving Shadows from brigade combat team level to the battalions themselves reduces lines of communication, distance issues, and allows operators and pilots to better train and work together.

[27] In March 2019, the U.S. Army selected Martin UAV and AAI Corporation to "provide unmanned aircraft systems for platoons to try out as candidates to replace the Shadow tactical UAS."

[31][32] Although the Army already planned to replace the Shadow in brigade combat teams, it was initially planned to continue to be used by combat aviation brigades and special forces units into the mid-2030s,[33] but the Army revealed in February 2024 that it had decided to replace the entire Shadow fleet as part of an overhaul of its aviation assets.

[36] These drones flew on IMINT missions as part of the General Directorate for Defense Intelligence in support of Multinational Division Central-South.

[4] After reports from Iraq that engines were failing, in 2005, the Army's UAV project manager called for the use of 100LL, an aviation fuel, rather than the conventional 87 octane mogas.

[40] Other incremental improvements to the system include replacing the AR741-1100 engine with the AR741-1101 which increases reliability through the use of dual spark plugs as well as limiting the fuel to 100LL.

The most visible improvement to the system will be a wider wing of 20 feet (6.1 m) in span which is designed to increase fuel capacity and allow for mission endurance of almost 9 hours.

[42] The Army is now proposing the upgraded Shadow 152A, which includes Soldier Radio Waveform software, which allows both the command post and their troops to see the images that the UAV is projecting, as long as they are on the same frequency.

The configuration allows the Shadow to fly in rainy conditions of up to two inches per hour, a four-fold increase over previous versions, carries the L3 Wescam MX-10 EO/IR camera with enhanced image collection, has a Joint Tactical Radio System to enable communications relay, and uses a more reliable and powerful engine configuration with reduced noise.

[48] On 19 April 2010 the Army issued a "solicitation for sources sought" from defense contractors for a munition for the Shadow system with a deadline for proposals due no later than 10 May 2010.

[54] On 1 November 2012, General Dynamics successfully demonstrated their guided 81 mm Air Dropped Mortar, with three launches at 7,000 ft (2,100 m) hitting within seven meters of the target grid.

[55] As of August 2011, the Marine Corps has received official clearance to experiment with armed RQ-7s, and requires AAI to select a precision munition ready for deployment.

AAI is developing a bigger version called M2 with a blended wing to include a 3-cylinder 60 hp (45 kW) Lycoming heavy fuel engine,[61][62] and began flight testing in August 2012.

[63] The Shadow M2 has a conformal blended body that reduces drag, wingspan increased to 25 ft (7.6 m), and is 120 lb (54 kg) heavier.

Its endurance and service ceiling are comparable to Group 4 UASs like the MQ-1 Predator, so the company is pitching the M2 as a budget-conscious alternative to larger unmanned aircraft.

[64][65][66] It has a greater payload to carry synthetic aperture radar (SAR), wide-area surveillance, navigation, signals intelligence, and electronic warfare packages.

It also resembles a Pioneer, except that the outer panels of the wings are distinctively swept back, and it has a stronger Wankel engine, the UAV EL 801, with 52 hp (39 kW).

[71] AAI, in conjunction with Textron sister company Bell Helicopter, intends to modify two Shadows with a Carter rotor on top for vertical take-off and landing, eliminating the need for the recovery and pneumatic launcher systems, while increasing payload and endurance.

[77] On 15 August 2011, a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane collided with a RQ-7 while on approach to Forward Operating Base Sharana in Paktika Province, Afghanistan.

On 3 April 2014, a Pennsylvanian Army National Guard RQ-7 participating in training exercises at Fort Indiantown Gap crashed near an elementary school in Pennsylvania and was then hit by a civilian vehicle destroying the drone.