The Army has awarded Bombardier Defense a contract to provide a Global 6500 aircraft to support prototyping efforts for the service’s next-generation aerial intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) program.
The deal with Bombardier covers procurement of one Global 6500 business jet for the High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System, or HADES, program with options to purchase two more aircraft over a three-period, the Army announced on Wednesday.
“HADES will bring the Army increased range, speed, endurance and aerial ISR depth,” Col. Joe Minor, project manager for Army fixed-wing aircraft, said in a statement. “HADES will operate at higher altitudes than legacy turboprop platforms. Higher altitudes equate to an ability to sense farther and more persistently into areas of interest. Deep sensing is the Army’s number-one operational imperative for the Army of 2030.”
The value of the firm-fixed price contract with Bombardier, officially awarded on December 12, has not been disclosed, and the first aircraft is expected to be delivered by this October.
“These HADES prototypes will be the first Army-owned large-cabin business jets utilized for Aerial Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance platforms, and will provide advanced deep-sensing capabilities for use in multi-domain operations against peer and near-peer adversaries,” the Army wrote in its announcement.
Brig. Gen. Ed Barker, the Army’s program executive officer for intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors (PEO IEW&S), told reporters in early December the first phase of HADES will include working on aircraft outfitted with different sensor packages.
“Really, the goal of that is to demonstrate the flexible aspect of the capabilities themselves and also to understand the best of breed that we want to pursue from a production standpoint,” Barker said.
Barker noted PEO IEW&S will support the HADES effort by acquiring the payloads for the platforms, while PEO Aviation is the lead for contracting activities related to the aircraft and selecting the lead systems integrator.
“In the early stages, we’re going to be looking to acquire radars and [electronic intelligence] and [communications intelligence] sensors to support the prototyping for HADES. We’re looking at opportunities to [utilize] existing sensors. Is there a way to maximize those capabilities? Obviously with HADES, we’ll be flying at higher and longer ranges, so we have to be cognizant of that from a physics standpoint,” Barker said.
The Army has leveraged several technology demonstrator programs to inform HADES, which Barker previously said has also “set the stage from an investment standpoint.”
Leidos [LDOS] has outfitted a Bombardier Challenger 650 for the ARTEMIS fixed-wing ISR effort, which Barker noted last month has flown more than 600 sorties in support of U.S. European Command, while L3Harris Technologies [LHX] has worked on the Airborne Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare System, or ARES, program which has conducted more than 300 flights in the Indo-Pacific.
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) in October secured an Army contract for the ATHENA-S aerial ISR demonstrator program, offering a Bombardier Global 6500 jet outfitted with radars and signals intelligence systems (Defense Daily, Oct. 10).
Meanwhile, a team of MAG Aerospace and L3Harris are working on the ATHENA-R program, which is focused on integrating Northrop Grumman’s [NOC] Long Range Radar to further Army priorities for the HADES effort.
Both ATHENA-R and ATHENA-S are intended to serve as a bridge capability to ultimately inform final requirements for HADES, with Barker noting in December both platforms are set to deploy in 2024.
“The [aerial technology demonstrators] (ATD) are providing data about platform performance, sensor integration, sensor performance and data distribution to both the Army and the joint force,” the Army said on Wednesday. “The ATDs also allow the Army to better understand the doctrine, training, personnel, facilities and sustainment required to employ these more capable sensors and aircraft that HADES will provide.”