UK cancels Shadow R2 upgrade

The UK has cancelled the R2 upgrade for the Shadow, although the R1 variant will remain in service. (Crown Copyright)

The United Kingdom has cancelled plans to upgrade its Beechcraft King Air 350-based RTX Shadow electronic intelligence (ELINT) special mission aircraft fleet, the government said on 19 November.

Answering questions in the House of Commons, Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) Luke Pollard said the Shadow R1 to R2 upgrade had been axed due to schedule slippages and cost overruns.

“I can confirm that the Shadow [R2] upgrade programme has been cancelled as it is late and has failed to deliver the capability that our armed forces need. It is also facing unacceptable cost escalation and delays. This decision will allow us to focus on investing in other defence priorities and the Shadow [R1],” Pollard said.

The secretive nature of the Shadowʼs mission has meant that, while its existence has been acknowledged, neither the MoD nor RTX has divulged any details as to the specific nature of its role, or the means by which it performs it. In 2018 the Royal Air Force (RAF) embarked on a ‘Mk 2ʼ connectivity upgrade for the Shadow R1 to enable the evolution of capability enhancements. Work also includes integrating the Leonardo Miysis Directed Infrared Countermeasure (DIRCM) suite and Thales Elix-IR threat warner and Vicon countermeasures dispensing system for the full defensive package against the latest-generation infrared (IR)-seeking missiles.

News of the cancellation came some two-and-a-half years after the Shadow R2 upgrade passed its critical design review (CDR) in March 2023. The first Shadow R2 was to be delivered to the RAF in 2019, which slipped to 2022, to 2024, and most recently to 2026.