Sierra Nevada Company introduced that two Contractor-Owned Contractor-Operated ATHENA-S jets completed testing and are actually operational in assist of the U.S. Military’s Aerial-ISR mission.
Sierra Nevada Company (SNC) has introduced on Apr. 15, 2026, that each contractor and authorities testing of the Military Theater stage Excessive Altitude Expeditionary Subsequent Airborne ISR-Indicators Intelligence (ATHENA-S) jets has been accomplished. The plane are actually prepared for Contractor-Owned Contractor-Operated (COCO) service in assist of the U.S. Military’s Airborne-Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (A-ISR) mission.
The ATHENA-S milestone validates the Bombardier World 6500 Speedy Configurable to Any Mission-X (RAPCON-X) plane’s design, mission methods integration and operational efficiency, stated SNC in a press launch. The ATHENA-S jets are among the many plane paving the conflict for the substitute of the Military’s legacy turboprop ISR and SIGINT fleet.
Beside the ATHENA-S, there are additionally ATHENA-R (Radar), the Airborne Reconnaissance and Concentrating on Multi-Mission System (ARTEMIS) and Aerial Reconnaissance and Digital Warfare System (ARES). Equally to ATHENA, ARTEMIS and ARES are additionally a part of COCO providers.
We’re thrilled to announce that contractor testing and authorities end-to-end testing for our RAPCON-X plane have been efficiently accomplished as a part of the U.S. Military’s ATHENA challenge! pic.twitter.com/6pblvsvgGV
— Sierra Nevada Company (@SierraNevCorp) April 15, 2026
These applications fall inside the broader Excessive Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES), permitting to check applied sciences and inform the necessities for the trouble. On Jan. 22, 2026, the Military additionally issued a Request for Data (RFI) for 11 Bombardier World 6500 enterprise jets destined to the HADES challenge, for an final Acquisition Goal (AO) of 14 plane.
ATHENA-S operational
SNC’s press launch quoted the director of technique and transformation inside the Military G-2, Andrew Evans, who stated the flying ATHENA platform “allows accelerated supply of well timed, actionable intelligence to commanders.” He additional added that “delivering superior A-ISR capabilities into the arms of warfighters strengthens the Military’s capability to sense, perceive and reply throughout contested environments, preserving choice benefit for the power.”
The corporate highlighted the Synthetic Intelligence/Machine Studying (AI/ML)-enabled “processing, exploitation and dissemination instruments” on the ATHENA-S. That is in concord with the rising ‘cognitive Digital Warfare’ technological idea that envisages automated scanning, identification and jamming/spoofing of hostile radio/radar emissions, decreasing operator and pilot workload.
… Europe and the opposite two to South Korea however this seems to have modified in latest months.
2/2
SNC press assertion:
Extra concerning the ATHENA jets:
Photograph above:
h/t @airsuperiorx:
— Bizjets of Battle (@bizjetsofwar) April 15, 2026
SNC defined that the ATHENA-S plane accomplished testing and integration of the mission methods at its facility in Hagerstown, Maryland. This was adopted by a “complete sequence of contractor and authorities testing occasions” that “validated the plane’s system-of-systems efficiency, confirming that the built-in platform meets operational necessities for ISR assortment and mission processing.”
“ATHENA demonstrates the power of SNC’s integration experience and our capability to quickly ship operational functionality to the warfighter,” stated Tim Owings, govt vice chairman at SNC. “By leveraging confirmed industrial platforms and integrating superior mission methods, we’re accelerating the fielding of essential ISR capabilities whereas informing the longer term structure of the Military’s deep-sensing fleet.”
US Military Video of Integration of the Excessive Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) challenge.HADES is the longer term US Military’s HALE platform for aerial ISR, SIGINT, ELINT, COMINT & deep sensing missions at altitudes of as much as 70 kft utilizing Bombardier World 6500 plane. pic.twitter.com/TjejvWYnLJ
— Mehdi H. (@mhmiranusa) April 16, 2026
ATHENA-S plane within the Philippines
Only a few days earlier, the 2 jets deployed to Cebu within the Philippines. Flight monitoring account ‘Manila_Alert’ reported on Apr. 12, 2026, that one of many plane, N650RX, flying with callsign ‘LATTE18’, was over the South China Sea (SCS) a couple of hundred kilometers northeast of Cebu. It was becoming a member of its different sister ATHENA-S plane, N650SN, already on the location since early April.
LATTE18 (ATHENA-S) heading to Cebu, Philippines with stopovers in Honolulu and Guam to reunite with it’s sister, N650SN. I ponder why each ATHENA-S jets are deployed to Cebu as an alternative of Japan or South Korea.
LATTE18, N650RX – #A88E47
(credit to pic.twitter.com/ORqxHw4n5o
— Manila_Alert (@Manila_Alert1) April 12, 2026
The truth is, ‘Manila Alert’ had tracked the opposite ATHENA-S plane, N650SN, heading to the Philippines as early as Apr. 1, flying with the callsign ‘LATTE92’. Knowledge on ADS-B Change confirmed N650SN’s exercise on Apr. 10 at Philippine’s Mactan-Cebu Worldwide airport, from the place it took off at 11:54 pm and landed again the following morning at 6:19 am.
Each plane are believed to have stopped in Honolulu, dwelling to the Joint-Base Pearl-Habor Hickam (JBPHH), and Andersen AFB on Guam for refueling. The plane then flew the final leg from Guam to the Philippines.
ATHENA-R and ATHENA-S inside the HADES program
The Military Theater stage Excessive Altitude Expeditionary Subsequent Airborne ISR-Radar (ATHENA-R), and ATHENA-S (Indicators Intelligence) jet platforms are a part of the Military’s preparation for the Excessive Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES). This system, which falls inside the Multi-Area Sensing System (MDSS) program, has been shaping up since 2020.
For the HADES challenge, the Military is trialling 4 completely different contracted Firm-Owned Firm-Operated (COCO) demonstrator plane, offering ISR, focusing on and ELINT/SIGINT (Digital/Indicators Intelligence) capabilities. These preparatory applications are “bridging methods,” because the Military had stated, which is able to validate applied sciences, meet interim operational wants, and likewise inform the efficiency parameters for the HADES challenge.
MDSS and HADES are meant to exchange the four-decade outdated legacy turboprop plane fleet of RC-12X Guardrail, MC-12S EMARSS and EO-5C ARL-M plane, which the Military accomplished divestment of in December 2025. The opposite two roles are the Airborne Reconnaissance and Concentrating on Multi-Mission System (ARTEMIS) and Aerial Reconnaissance and Digital Warfare System (ARES).
The Product Supervisor for the MDSS, Eric Hughes, had beforehand stated they’d assist assess “how the sensors function on the demonstrator jets on the altitudes, velocity, and ranges that HADES is anticipated to carry out.” ARTEMIS, primarily based on the Challenger 650 enterprise jet, has been operational since 2020, with deployments each within the Indo-Pacific and Europe. The Bombardier World 6500-based ARES was additionally deployed to the Indo-Pacific in 2022.
In 2023 the U.S. Military chosen L3Harris and MAG Aerospace for 2 ATHENA-R plane, and SNC for an equal variety of ATHENA-S planes. Then, in February 2025, the Military deployed the ATHENA-R to South Korea for a four-month operational evaluation of the plane’s readiness.
In Could 2025, SNC introduced efficiently the completion of the preliminary Flight Efficiency Dealing with & Qualification take a look at of the Bombardier World 6500 enterprise jet within the RAPCON-X (Quickly Configurable to Any Mission-X) airframe for the ATHENA-S.
Earlier at the moment, the ATHENA jet did approach-and-landing coaching at Kunsan Air Base. The primary ISR mission is anticipated later this week.
SCRUM06 // N291SR // #A2FAD1 pic.twitter.com/rkDQPj8bGA
— Bizjets of Battle (@bizjetsofwar) February 18, 2025
January 2026 RFI
The Jan. 22, 2026, Request For Data (RFI), up to date over the following month earlier than lastly being inactivated by Mar. 4, sought 11 World 6500s as Authorities-Owned Authorities Operated (GOGO) airframes. Curiously, Breaking Protection had reported in Could 2025 that the Military had halved its future HADES fleet from 12 to 6 airframes.
The RFI requires the plane to have the ability to function between altitudes of 41,000 and 51,000 toes, and will keep a ceiling of 41,000 toes whereas carrying 6,500 kilos of the involved ISR and SIGINT “Mission Gear Package deal (MEP)” payload.
The plane must also be able to unrefueled endurance of 12 hours whereas carrying a minimal payload of 14,000 kilos. Structural necessities stipulate no use of composite supplies for the plane fuselage, empennage pores and skin and structural elements, including that “restricted use of composite supplies for nostril cones, tail cones, pylons, fairings and radome is permissible.”
