SNC’s ATHENA-S ISR jet is now in service with the U.S. Army

SNC’s ATHENA-S ISR jet is now in service with the U.S. Army

Sierra Nevada Corporation announced that two contractor-owned, contractor-operated ATHENA-S jets have completed testing and are now operational in support of the U.S. Army’s airborne ISR mission.

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) announced April 15, 2026, the completion of contractor and government testing for the Army-wide level High Altitude Expeditionary Next Airborne ISR-Signals Intelligence (ATHENA-S) jet. The aircraft is now ready to perform contractor-owned, contractor-operated (COCO) service in support of the U.S. Army’s Airborne-Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (A-ISR) mission.

The ATHENA-S milestone validates the design, mission system integration and operational performance of the Bombardier Global 6500 Rapid Configurable to Any Mission-X (RAPCON-X) aircraft, SNC said in a press release. The ATHENA-S jet is one of the war-ready aircraft to replace the Army’s existing turboprop ISR and SIGINT fleet.

In addition to ATHENA-S, there is also ATHENA-R (radar), Aerial Reconnaissance and Targeting Multimission System (ARTEMIS), and Aerial Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare System (ARES). Like ATHENA, ARTEMIS and ARES are also part of COCO services.

These programs are part of the broader HADES (High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System), allowing them to test technologies and inform requirements for the effort. On January 22, 2026, the Army also issued a Request for Information (RFI) for 11 Bombardier Global 6500 business jets for the HADES project, with an ultimate acquisition objective (AO) of 14 aircraft.

ATHENA-S Operation

SNC’s press release quotes Andrew Evans, director of strategy and innovation within Army G-2, as saying the flying ATHENA platform “allows us to rapidly deliver timely, actionable information to commanders.” He added, “Delivering advanced A-ISR capabilities into the hands of the warfighter will enhance the Army’s ability to detect, understand and respond in contested environments, thereby maintaining the Army’s decision advantage.”

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RAPCON-X aircraft during flight performance processing and qualification testing. (Image source: Sierra Nevada Corporation)

The company emphasized artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML)-enabled “processing, exploitation and dissemination tools” in ATHENA-S. This is in harmony with the new ‘cognitive electronic warfare’ technology concept, which reduces the workload of operators and pilots by taking into account automatic scanning, identification and jamming/spoofing of hostile radio/radar emissions.

SNC explained that the ATHENA-S aircraft has completed testing and integration of its mission systems at its facility in Hagerstown, Maryland. This was followed by a “comprehensive series of contractor and government test events” to “validate the aircraft’s system performance and ensure the integrated platform meets operational requirements for ISR collection and mission processing.”

“ATHENA demonstrates SNC’s strong integrated expertise and ability to rapidly deliver operational capabilities to the warfighter,” said Tim Owings, SNC senior vice president. “By 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’s deep sensing fleet.”

ATHENA-S aircraft in the Philippines

Just a few days ago, two jets were deployed to Cebu, Philippines. Flight tracking account ‘Manila_Alert’ reported on April 12, 2026 that one N650RX, an aircraft flying with the call sign ‘LATTE18’, was over the South China Sea (SCS), hundreds of kilometers northeast of Cebu. The aircraft joins another sister ATHENA-S aircraft, the N650SN, already at the location since early April.

In fact, ‘Manila Alert’ tracked another ATHENA-S aircraft, N650SN, with the call sign ‘LATTE92’ and heading to the Philippines as early as April 1. According to ADS-B Exchange data, N650SN took off from Mactan-Cebu International Airport in the Philippines at 11:54 PM on April 10 and landed again at 6:19 AM the next day.

Both aircraft are believed to have stopped in Honolulu, home of Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam (JBPHH), and Anderson AFB, Guam, for refueling. The aircraft then flew the final leg from Guam to the Philippines.

ATHENA-R and ATHENA-S within the HADES program

The Army-wide level High-Altitude Expeditionary Next-Generation Airborne ISR-Radar (ATHENA-R) and ATHENA-S (Signals Intelligence) jet platforms are part of the Army’s readiness for the High Precision Detection and Exploitation System (HADES). This program, part of the Multi-Domain Sensing System (MDSS) program, has been taking shape since 2020.

For the HADES project, the Army is testing four different contracted Company Owned and Operated (COCO) demonstrator aircraft that provide ISR, targeting, and ELINT/SIGINT (Electronic/Signals Intelligence) capabilities. These readiness programs are, as the Army puts it, a “bridge strategy” to validate technologies, meet interim operational requirements, and inform performance parameters of the HADES project.

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ATHENA-R aircraft. (Image source: L3Harris)

MDSS and HADES are intended to replace the Army’s 40-year-old existing turboprop aircraft fleet of RC-12X Guardrail, MC-12S EMARSS and EO-5C ARL-M aircraft, for which the sale was completed in December 2025. The other two roles are ARTEMIS (Airborne Reconnaissance and Targeting Multimission System) and ARES (Aerial Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare System).

Eric Hughes, MDSS product manager, previously said it would help evaluate “how the sensors on the demonstration jet perform at the altitudes, speeds and ranges that HADES is expected to perform at.” ARTEMIS, based on the Challenger 650 business jet, has been deployed and operating in the Indo-Pacific and Europe since 2020. The Bombardier Global 6500-based ARES will also be deployed in the Indo-Pacific in 2022.

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 aircraft. Then, in February 2025, the Army deployed ATHENA-R to South Korea for a four-month operational assessment of the aircraft’s readiness.

In May 2025, SNC announced the successful completion of initial flight performance processing and qualification testing of the Bombardier Global 6500 business jet on the Rapidly Configurable to Any Mission-X (RAPCON-X) airframe for ATHENA-S.

January 2026 RFI

On January 22, 2026, a request for information (RFI), updated the following month and finally deactivated on March 4, sought 11 Global 6500s as GOGO (government-owned, government-operated) airframes. interestingly, destruction defense In May 2025, it was reported that the Army had halved its future HADES fleet from 12 to six aircraft.

The RFI calls for the aircraft to be capable of operating between 41,000 and 51,000 feet altitude and maintaining an altitude of 41,000 feet while carrying 6,500 pounds of associated ISR and SIGINT “mission equipment package (MEP)” payload.

Additionally, the aircraft must be able to fly without refueling for 12 hours while carrying a payload of at least 14,000 pounds. Structural requirements stipulate no use of composite materials in aircraft fuselages, tail skins and structural components, adding, “Limited use of composite materials in nose cones, tail cones, pylons, fairings and radomes is permitted.”

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