Group 3 UAS Definition and Named Group 3 Aircraft

What Counts as a Group 3 UAS

Three attributes decide a drone's DoD group: maximum gross takeoff weight, operating altitude and speed. The official framework appears in Joint Publication 3-30 (JP 3-30), "Joint Air Operations," as reproduced in report IF12797 by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

Under this standard, a Group 3 unmanned aircraft weighs less than 1,320 pounds, operates below 18,000 feet mean sea level (MSL), and flies at an indicated airspeed under 250 knots.

The classification scheme originated when the then-Joint UAS Center of Excellence proposed five military categories in 2007. The Department of Defense adopted an amended version in 2008 and published it in the "FY2009-FY2034 Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap." Dyke D. Weatherington, Deputy Director of Unmanned Warfare at OUSD(AT&L), gave the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform a table of the same five groups in 2010.

Weatherington's Table 1 matches the JP 3-30 chart on Group 3 weight and altitude. On speed, Table 1 uses one merged cell reading "Any" for Groups 3, 4 and 5. The JP 3-30 chart that CRS reproduces sets Group 3 under 250 knots instead. For the full Group 1 to Group 5 taxonomy, see the guide to types of military drones.

Sources disagree on the highest-attribute rule, under which one attribute in a higher group moves an aircraft into that group. Course notes from the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences apply the rule to every unmanned aircraft, regardless of its other characteristics.

The only official text found states the rule more narrowly: a footnote to Weatherington's 2010 House testimony table says lighter-than-air vehicles are classified by the highest of their operating attributes. The CRS primer does not state the rule, and the current JP 3-30 text itself was not available to review.

Named Aircraft in the Group 3 Category

Several operational and experimental military drones occupy the Group 3 weight and performance band. The JP 3-30 chart that CRS reproduces lists four representative Group 3 aircraft: the RQ-7B Shadow, the RQ-15 Neptune, the XPV-1 Tern and the XPV-2 Mako. The U.S. Army flew the Shadow in platoons organic to its Brigade Combat Teams.

The Army names Textron Systems as the Shadow contractor, and Textron Systems calls itself a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) business. An official Army fact sheet lists the RQ-7B Shadow with a gross takeoff weight exceeding 460 pounds, a 20-foot wingspan, a payload of about 60 pounds and nine hours of endurance.

According to a Textron Systems announcement, the Shadow surpassed one million flight hours, with more than 85 percent flown in combat operations.

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps field the RQ-21A Blackjack as a Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System. Insitu, a Boeing (NYSE: BA) subsidiary since 2008, builds the Blackjack. An archived Boeing product page states that "RQ-21A Blackjack is a Group 3 UAV."

The Insitu RQ-21A page lists a maximum takeoff weight of 135 pounds (61 kg), well under the JP 3-30 chart's 1,320-pound Group 3 line. Insitu also lists a 15.7-foot wingspan, endurance up to 16 hours, a 20,000-foot ceiling and a 39-pound maximum payload. That 20,000-foot ceiling is higher than the 18,000-foot MSL Group 3 limit in the JP 3-30 chart.

The chart sets that limit as an operating altitude, and Boeing still labels the RQ-21A Group 3.

Private defense startup Shield AI, which completed a $2 billion funding round at a $12.7 billion post-money valuation according to Bloomberg, produces the Shield AI V-BAT. Shield AI calls the V-BAT a "Group 3 ISR Drone" on its product page.

Shield AI lists a maximum takeoff weight of 165 pounds, a 40-pound payload, a 12.5-foot wingspan and more than 12 hours of endurance with an EO/IR payload. AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) labels the JUMP 20 a Group 3 VTOL fixed-wing aircraft. AeroVironment lists a 215-pound maximum gross takeoff weight, an 18.8-foot wingspan, a 17,000-foot operational altitude and more than 13 hours of endurance.

By maximum takeoff weight, the V-BAT and the JUMP 20 both sit between the JP 3-30 chart's 55-pound Group 2 ceiling and its 1,320-pound Group 3 limit.

Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company (NYSE: LMT), introduced the Sikorsky Nomad family of vertical takeoff drones.

A Lockheed Martin press release calls the Nomad 100 "a Group 3, 18-ft wingspan variant." Sikorsky later announced the Nomad 100 Fast Pack, packing four aircraft into a 20-foot shipping container for naval and austere basing. Griffon Aerospace markets the Valiant as a Group 3 vertical takeoff platform, though Griffon does not publish weight or performance numbers for the airframe.

Launch Methods for Group 3 Drones

The Group 3 classification is defined by weight, altitude, and speed rather than by launch mechanism. The RQ-7B Shadow, one of the JP 3-30 chart's Group 3 examples, relies on launch gear: the Army lists one or two hydraulic launchers among Shadow system equipment.

Insitu describes the RQ-21A Blackjack as having a runway-independent design that easily operates from land or at sea. The fixed-wing drones guide covers winged airframes such as the Blackjack in more detail. Shield AI says the V-BAT launches and lands unassisted in a 15-foot by 15-foot landing zone, so it needs no launcher or runway.

Textron Systems developed the Aerosonde 4.8 HQ, which uses Hybrid Quadrotor technology to achieve vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL). Textron lists the Aerosonde 4.8 HQ at a 205-pound takeoff weight, an operating ceiling above 15,000 feet MSL and 14 hours of endurance. Textron says two soldiers carry and assemble the aircraft, and that it can be assembled and launched in under 30 minutes.

Textron's datasheet does not call the Aerosonde 4.8 HQ Group 3. The 205-pound takeoff weight puts the aircraft above the 55-pound Group 2 ceiling by weight alone, although the JP 3-30 chart lists a different Aerosonde variant as a representative Group 2 aircraft.

Group 3 Boundaries with Group 2 and Group 4

The JP 3-30 chart that CRS reproduces puts Group 2 at 21 to 55 pounds and below 3,500 feet above ground level (AGL). The chart gives Group 3 only an upper weight limit, less than 1,320 pounds, and raises its altitude limit to below 18,000 feet MSL. Lockheed Martin and The War Zone describe Group 3 as 56 to 1,320 pounds.

In the JP 3-30 chart, Group 3 and Group 4 share the same altitude limit, below 18,000 feet MSL. Group 4 starts above 1,320 pounds and has no airspeed limit, while Group 3 stays under 1,320 pounds and 250 knots. Weatherington's 2010 table lists "Any" speed for both groups, so weight is the only line between them in that version.

The chart's representative Group 4 aircraft include the MQ-1C Gray Eagle and the MQ-8B Fire Scout.

CRS reports that critics contend DoD's Group 3, which includes aircraft that weigh between 55 pounds and 1,350 pounds, is too broad. That 1,350-pound figure does not match the 1,320-pound line in the JP 3-30 chart printed in the same CRS primer. Section 1073 of the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA, Public Law 117-81) ordered a review of the JP 3-30 classification.

That provision directed the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment to report whether the categories need revising. CRS does not say whether that review changed the categories.

Army Shadow Replacement Program (FTUAS)

In March 2019, the U.S. Army awarded contracts to Martin UAV and Textron AAI Corporation for non-developmental Group 2 and Group 3 systems. Each award was an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract with a maximum value of $99,500,000 and a three-year ordering period. Gen.

John Murray of Army Futures Command said the Army was "developing informed requirements for the RQ-7 Shadow replacement for our Brigade Combat Teams."

Defense News reported in May 2024 that the Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (FTUAS) would replace the Shadow. The Army wanted the FTUAS aircraft to be runway independent, with on-the-move command and control and soldier-led field-level maintenance. The same Defense News report says the service awarded an $8 million interim contract in 2022 to AeroVironment for the JUMP 20 to equip a single brigade.

AeroVironment later disclosed in an SEC Form 8-K filing that the JUMP 20 was eliminated during Increment 2 selections. AeroVironment CEO Wahid Nawabi called the JUMP 20 the "best-in-class Group 3 UAS on the market" in the same filing.

Defense News reported in May 2025 that the Army halted the FTUAS competition following flight demonstrations by Griffon Aerospace and Textron Systems. The cancellation occurred under a broader directive from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The same report says the Army officially retired the RQ-7B Shadow in early 2024. Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Mingus stated that the Army still needs short, medium, and long-range unmanned systems.

Defense News described the halt as coming without a clear plan forward and named no replacement program or aircraft.

DoD Group 3 vs FAA Category 3

Military classifications should not be confused with civil aviation categories that use identical numbers. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) maintains its own operational framework under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). Under 14 CFR 1.1, a small unmanned aircraft is strictly defined as an aircraft weighing less than 55 pounds on takeoff, including all onboard equipment and attachments.

CRS says DoD's dividing lines were designed in part to align with the FAA, and that DoD uses 55 pounds as the upper limit of Group 2. The match is not exact. The FAA text says less than 55 pounds, while DoD's Group 2 runs from 21 to 55 pounds.

A 55-pound aircraft is therefore Group 2 under DoD but not a small unmanned aircraft under 14 CFR 1.1.

Category 3 is one of four FAA categories for flying small drones over people under Part 107. Under 14 CFR 107.130, a Category 3 aircraft must be a small unmanned aircraft (under 55 pounds) with no exposed rotating parts that would lacerate skin. The aircraft's impact must not injure a person as badly as a rigid object transferring 25 foot-pounds of kinetic energy.

The remote pilot must also fly an aircraft listed on an FAA-accepted declaration of compliance.

FAA Category 3 also limits where the drone may fly. Under 14 CFR 107.125, a remote pilot operating an FAA Category 3 drone cannot fly over open-air assemblies of human beings. The pilot may fly over people only within or over a closed- or restricted-access site where everyone on the site is on notice, or without sustained flight over non-participants.

On weight alone, a Group 3 aircraft in Lockheed Martin's 56-to-1,320-pound band is too heavy to be an FAA small unmanned aircraft. FAA Category 3 is therefore closed to Group 3 aircraft in that band.