Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has completed initial flight testing of its RAPCON-X platform for the Army’s ATHENA-S aerial intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (A-ISR) jet prototyping program.
The company said it plans to complete the final phase of flight testing with RAPCON-X, which is a
Bombardier Global 6500 jet outfitted with radars and signals intelligence systems, later this summer as it looks to deliver the aircraft in late 2025.
“Achieving Flight Performance Handling Qualification is a significant milestone toward proving the aircraft’s airworthiness by validating consistent performance throughout the full flight envelope to ensure safety and reliability,” SNC said in a statement.
The Army awarded the prototype contract for Army’s Theater Level High-Altitude Expeditionary Next Aerial–Signals Intelligence, or ATHENA-S, project in late September 2023, with SNC set to provide two RAPCON-X platforms as a contractor-owned and operated services (Defense Daily, Oct. 10 2023).
SNC later said its deal for ATHENA-S was worth $554 million, with the company noting it first took possession of the two Global 6500 jets in 2022.
“RAPCON-X provides a disruptive asymmetric advantage to combatant commanders today and we are proud to continue development of this significant capability,” Tim Owings, executive vice president of SNC’s mission solutions and technologies business area, said in a statement. “Completing the flight performance handling milestone reinforces SNC’s commitment and readiness to meet capability and timeline requirements promised in support of these vital missions.”
SNC conducted the first RAPCON-X test flight this past November (Defense Daily, Nov. 22 2024).
The ATHENA-S prototyping effort is intended to serve as a bridge capability to ultimately inform final requirements for the Army’s future HADES, or High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System, aerial ISR program of record.
The Army has awarded Bombardier Defense a contract to provide up to three Global 6500 business jets for HADES’ prototyping and in August 2024 picked SNC as the lead systems integrator for the program, awarding the firm a contract worth up to $991.3 million (Defense Daily, Aug. 22 2024).
Andrew Evans, director of the Army’s ISR Task Force, recently told Defense Daily that SNC’s integration of the first HADES prototype aircraft remains on track to support operational testing in late 2026 and that the second aircraft should be ready “just shortly after that.”
SNC said the successful initial flight testing of RAPCON-X, conducted in collaboration with Bombardier Defense, included “a full regime of flight maneuvers to validate its airworthiness and safety.”
“The RAPCON-X flight testing program was completed per plan, safely and efficiently – a testament to the ongoing seamless collaboration between Bombardier Defense and SNC. The performance and handling qualities were confirmed to be as predicted,” Steve Patrick, vice president of Bombardier Defense, said in a statement.
The testing also validated that “the reduced vertical separation minimum (RVSM) capability continues to perform well with the RAPCON-X modifications,” according to SNC.
“RVSM is a technology that allows aircraft to fly with a smaller vertical separation between them at higher altitudes, a critical requirement of A-ISR missions,” SNC said.
The company has emphasized that RAPCON-X was designed with an open architecture and model-based systems engineering to allow for rapid mission reconfiguration with new capabilities, with SNC noting the platform is intended to collect and process signals intelligence, electro-optical reconnaissance and ground moving-target signatures.
“SNC designed RAPCON-X with the customer and its need for both adaptability and rapid deployment in mind. Successfully completing this phase of flight testing proves SNC’s readiness to deliver the kind of mission-specific solutions that will give our soldiers the tactical advantage they need in today’s near-peer environment,” Josh Walsh, SNC’s vice president of programs, said in a statement.