The Fire Shadow is an unmanned flying machine that can loiter unnoticed, hovering over an area for six hours, waiting to receive a kill order on any designated moving or static target — and then fall on it like a suicidal bird of prey to destroy it.
This video shows exactly that, hitting a car full of imagined terrorist in real life footage.
According to missile systems manufacturer MBDA, this bird of death is a high precision, low cost flying missile that can be launched by a soldier from the ground, just like any other small unmanned air vehicle. After the launch, the Fire Shadow can hover over a large area for up to six hours or 100km. Once the operator points out a target, the Fire Shadow will fall on it destroying it on contact.
MBDA says this 200kg weapon is effective across any terrain, including complex urban scenarios. It can also hit any target, from a person having a coffee on the street to a moving car, with “low collateral damage”, at any time of the day or night. It can also attack targets on the sea.
The Fire Shadow was first tested in Vidsel, Sweden, on November 21, 2010, with a second successful test on May 13, 2011. The first units went out of the production line in March 2012 and they are now on their way to the first users: Her Majesty’s 39th Regiment Royal Artillery. [MBDA via Flight Global and Wikipedia]