By Skies Magazine | January 4, 2024 Estimated reading time 2 minutes, 24 seconds.
The U.S. Army has awarded a fixed-price contract to Bombardier Defense for one Global 6500 jet aircraft to support prototyping for the High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System, or HADES, the service announced on Jan. 3.
The contract, which was signed on Dec. 12, 2023, includes an option to acquire two additional aircraft over a three-year period.
The HADES prototype is intended to provide the U.S. Army with its first large business jet platform configured for aerial Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), and will be equipped with advanced deep sensing capabilities for use in multidomain operations.
The first aircraft is expected to be delivered by Oct. 1, 2024.
“HADES will bring the Army increased range, speed, endurance and aerial ISR depth,” Col Joe S. 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.”
In preparation for the HADES program of record, the Army began purchasing aerial ISR as a service in the form of aerial technology demonstrators from defence industry vendors in 2020.
The demonstrators have helped the Army better understand “platform performance, sensor integration, sensor performance, and data distribution,” the Army said in the statement, as well as doctrine, training, personnel, facilities, and sustainment required by the new aircraft and sensors.
