![\"ATHENA-S](\"https:\/\/theaviationist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/US-Army-ATHENA-S-Philippines-1-460x259.jpg\")
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Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has announced<\/a> on Apr. 15, 2026, that both contractor and government testing of the Army Theater level High Altitude Expeditionary Next Airborne ISR-Signals Intelligence (ATHENA-S) jets has been completed. The aircraft are now ready for Contractor-Owned Contractor-Operated (COCO) service in support of the U.S. Army\u2019s Airborne-Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (A-ISR) mission.<\/p>\n The ATHENA-S milestone validates the Bombardier Global 6500 Rapid Configurable to Any Mission-X (RAPCON-X) aircraft\u2019s design, mission systems integration and operational performance, said SNC in a press release. The ATHENA-S jets are among the aircraft paving the war for the replacement of the Army\u2019s legacy turboprop ISR and SIGINT fleet.<\/p>\n Beside the ATHENA-S, there are also ATHENA-R (Radar), the Airborne Reconnaissance and Targeting Multi-Mission System (ARTEMIS) and Aerial Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare System (ARES). Similarly to ATHENA, ARTEMIS and ARES are also part of COCO services.\u00a0<\/p>\n We\u2019re thrilled to announce that contractor testing and government end-to-end testing for our RAPCON-X aircraft have been successfully completed as part of the U.S. Army\u2019s ATHENA project! https:\/\/t.co\/eMgApUi4GR<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/6pblvsvgGV<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Sierra Nevada Corporation (@SierraNevCorp) April 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n These programs fall within the broader High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES), allowing to test technologies and inform the requirements for the effort. On Jan. 22, 2026<\/a>, the Army also issued a Request for Information (RFI) for 11 Bombardier Global 6500 business jets destined to the HADES project, for an ultimate Acquisition Objective (AO) of 14 aircraft.<\/p>\n SNC\u2019s press release quoted the director of strategy and transformation within the Army G-2, Andrew Evans, who said the flying ATHENA platform \u201cenables accelerated delivery of timely, actionable intelligence to commanders.\u201d He further added that \u201cdelivering advanced A-ISR capabilities into the hands of warfighters strengthens the Army\u2019s ability to sense, understand and respond across contested environments, preserving decision advantage for the force.\u201d<\/p>\n The company highlighted the Artificial Intelligence\/Machine Learning (AI\/ML)-enabled \u201cprocessing, exploitation and dissemination tools\u201d on the ATHENA-S. This is in harmony with the emerging \u2018cognitive Electronic Warfare\u2019<\/a> technological concept that envisages automated scanning, identification and jamming\/spoofing of hostile radio\/radar emissions, reducing operator and pilot workload.<\/p>\n \u2026 Europe and the other two to South Korea but this appears to have changed in recent months.<\/p>\n 2\/2<\/p>\n SNC press statement: https:\/\/t.co\/gsLObs1ENL<\/a><\/p>\n More about the ATHENA jets: https:\/\/t.co\/bm1zA2d1Ob<\/a><\/p>\n Photo above: https:\/\/t.co\/qSxsXsIBBq<\/a><\/p>\n h\/t @airsuperiorx<\/a>: https:\/\/t.co\/PqISe4PzrA<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Bizjets of War (@bizjetsofwar) April 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n SNC explained that the ATHENA-S aircraft completed testing and integration of the mission systems at its facility in Hagerstown, Maryland. This was followed by a \u201ccomprehensive series of contractor and government testing events\u201d that \u201cvalidated the aircraft\u2019s system-of-systems performance, confirming that the integrated platform meets operational requirements for ISR collection and mission processing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cATHENA demonstrates the strength of SNC\u2019s integration expertise and our ability to rapidly deliver operational capability to the warfighter,\u201d said Tim Owings, executive vice president at SNC. \u201cBy leveraging proven commercial platforms and integrating advanced mission systems, we are accelerating the fielding of critical ISR capabilities while informing the future architecture of the Army\u2019s deep-sensing fleet.\u201d<\/p>\n US Army Video of Integration of the High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) project. \u2014 Mehdi H. (@mhmiranusa) April 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Just a few days earlier, the two jets deployed to Cebu in the Philippines. Flight tracking account \u2018Manila_Alert\u2019<\/a> reported on Apr. 12, 2026, that one of the aircraft, N650RX, flying with callsign \u2018LATTE18\u2019, was over the South China Sea (SCS) a few hundred kilometers northeast of Cebu. It was joining its other sister ATHENA-S aircraft, N650SN, already at the location since early April.<\/p>\n LATTE18 (ATHENA-S) heading to Cebu, Philippines with stopovers in Honolulu and Guam to reunite with it\u2019s sister, N650SN. I wonder why both ATHENA-S jets are deployed to Cebu instead of Japan or South Korea.<\/p>\n LATTE18, N650RX \u2013 #A88E47<\/a><\/p>\n (credits to https:\/\/t.co\/j3Axp68Q63<\/a>) pic.twitter.com\/ORqxHw4n5o<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Manila_Alert (@Manila_Alert1) April 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In fact, \u2018Manila Alert\u2019<\/a> had tracked the other ATHENA-S aircraft, N650SN, heading to the Philippines as early as Apr. 1, flying with the callsign \u2018LATTE92\u2019. Data on ADS-B Exchange<\/a> showed N650SN\u2019s activity on Apr. 10 at Philippine\u2019s Mactan-Cebu International airport, from where it took off at 11:54 pm and landed back the next morning at 6:19 am.<\/p>\n Both aircraft are believed to have stopped in Honolulu, home to the Joint-Base Pearl-Habor Hickam (JBPHH), and Andersen AFB on Guam for refueling. The aircraft then flew the last leg from Guam to the Philippines.<\/p>\n The Army Theater level High Altitude Expeditionary Next Airborne ISR-Radar (ATHENA-R), and ATHENA-S (Signals Intelligence) jet platforms are part of the Army\u2019s preparation for the High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES<\/a>). The program, which falls within the Multi-Domain Sensing System (MDSS) program, has been shaping up since 2020.<\/p>\n For the HADES project, the Army is trialling four different contracted Company-Owned Company-Operated (COCO) demonstrator aircraft, providing ISR, targeting and ELINT\/SIGINT (Electronic\/Signals Intelligence) capabilities. These preparatory programs are \u201cbridging strategies,\u201d as the Army had said, which will validate technologies, meet interim operational needs, and also inform the performance parameters for the HADES project.<\/p>\n MDSS and HADES are intended to replace the four-decade old legacy turboprop aircraft fleet<\/a> of RC-12X Guardrail, MC-12S EMARSS and EO-5C ARL-M aircraft, which the Army completed divestment of in December 2025<\/a>. The other two roles are the Airborne Reconnaissance and Targeting Multi-Mission System (ARTEMIS) and Aerial Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare System (ARES).<\/p>\n The Product Manager for the MDSS, Eric Hughes, had previously said they would help assess \u201chow the sensors operate on the demonstrator jets at the altitudes, speed, and ranges that HADES is expected to perform.\u201d ARTEMIS, based on the Challenger 650 business jet, has been operational since 2020, with deployments both in the Indo-Pacific and Europe. The Bombardier Global 6500-based ARES was also deployed to the Indo-Pacific<\/a> in 2022.<\/p>\n In 2023 the U.S. Army selected L3Harris and MAG Aerospace for two ATHENA-R aircraft, and SNC for an equal number of ATHENA-S planes. Then, in February 2025, the Army deployed the ATHENA-R to South Korea<\/a> for a four-month operational assessment of the aircraft\u2019s readiness.<\/p>\n In May 2025<\/a>, SNC announced successfully the completion of the initial Flight Performance Handling & Qualification test of the Bombardier Global 6500 business jet in the RAPCON-X (Rapidly Configurable to Any Mission-X) airframe for the ATHENA-S.<\/p>\n Earlier today, the ATHENA jet did approach-and-landing training at Kunsan Air Base. The first ISR mission is expected later this week.<\/p>\n SCRUM06 \/\/ N291SR \/\/ #A2FAD1<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/rkDQPj8bGA<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Bizjets of War (@bizjetsofwar) February 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The Jan. 22, 2026, Request For Information (RFI), updated over the next month before finally being inactivated by Mar. 4, sought 11 Global 6500s as Government-Owned Government Operated (GOGO) airframes. Interestingly, Breaking<\/em><\/a> Defense<\/em><\/a> had reported in May 2025 that the Army had halved its future HADES fleet from 12 to six airframes.<\/p>\n The RFI requires the aircraft to be able to operate between altitudes of 41,000 and 51,000 feet, and should maintain a ceiling of 41,000 feet while carrying 6,500 pounds of the concerned ISR and SIGINT \u201cMission Equipment Package (MEP)\u201d payload.<\/p>\n The aircraft should also be capable of unrefueled endurance of 12 hours while carrying a minimum payload of 14,000 pounds. Structural requirements stipulate no use of composite materials for the aircraft fuselage, empennage skin and structural components, adding that \u201climited use of composite materials for nose cones, tail cones, pylons, fairings and radome is permissible.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sierra Nevada Corporation announced that two Contractor-Owned Contractor-Operated ATHENA-S jets finished testing and are now operational in support of the U.S. Army\u2019s Aerial-ISR mission. Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has announced on Apr. 15, 2026, that both contractor and government testing of the Army Theater level High Altitude Expeditionary Next Airborne ISR-Signals Intelligence (ATHENA-S) jets has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
ATHENA-S operational<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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\nHADES is the future US Army\u2019s HALE platform for aerial ISR, SIGINT, ELINT, COMINT & deep sensing missions at altitudes of up to 70 kft using Bombardier Global 6500 aircraft. pic.twitter.com\/TjejvWYnLJ<\/a><\/p>\nATHENA-S aircraft in the Philippines<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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ATHENA-R and ATHENA-S within the HADES program<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"ATHENA-R](\"http:\/\/theaviationist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ATHENA-R_1-706x441.jpeg\")
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January 2026 RFI<\/strong><\/h3>\n