An artist's conception of a Bombardier Global 6500 business jet fitted for the U.S. Army's deep sensing missions. Bombardier Defense via U.S. Army
Protest puts Army’s HADES spy plane on hold
The program is part of the service’s "No. 1 operational imperative," officials have said.
Work is paused on the U.S. Army’s effort to equip high-flying jets with spy gear as L3Harris protests the service’s decision to give the contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation.
In August, SNC won a 12-year contract worth up to almost $1 billion to load Bombardier’s Global 6500 jet with spy systems, beating out a team of three companies: L3Harris, Leidos, and MAG Aerospace.
L3Harris filed a formal protest on Sept. 16 asking the Government Accountability Office to review the decision, according to a company spokesperson. “We carefully reviewed the information during the Army’s debrief process, which led us to challenge the HADES decision and request further analysis to ensure the proposal received an equitable evaluation,” they said.
This protest is only a “temporary setback,” said Tim Harper, SNC’s vice president of business development. Harper said he’s confident in the process and awaits the GAO’s decision.
“We stand by our proposed solution and the experienced team of professionals who have diligently worked to create an aerial ISR solution that will give the Army the advantage required for the near-peer fight. Regarding the protest, we remain fully committed and are confident in the superiority of our solution and the Army’s selection of SNC for the HADES contract,” Harper said.
Army officials have previously called “deep sensing”—that is, efforts to track enemies at a distance—the service’s No. 1 operational imperative for the Army of 2030.
The office will make a decision on the protest by Dec. 26. Aviation Week was first to report the protest.
As work on HADES is stalled, SNC is continuing to work on the Army’s Theater-Level High-Altitude Expeditionary Next Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance platform—called ATHENA, which is gearing up for flight tests this month. The Army is using ATHENA and other prototype programs to figure out requirements ahead of HADES production.