On Sunday 2 November, an ARTEMIS (Airborne Reconnaissance Targeting and Exploitation Multi-Mission Intelligence System) business jet, was observed on AIS while flying, over international waters in the Black Sea, under the call sign BRIO66. The ISR aircraft was observed flying its racetrack patterns off the coast of Romania near Constanta, looking into Ukraine.
HADES has emerged in the past few years as a US Army priority connected with the necessity to expand the reach of Artillery and ground-based strategic fires, further exacerbated by the fact that the USAF withdrew the JOINT STARS radar aircraft fleet.
ARTEMIS, developed and managed by Leidos, is a modified Bombardier CHALLENGER 650 business jet turned into an advanced electronic/signals intelligence platform capable of detecting, collecting, and analyzing electronic emissions across complex operational environments. ARTEMIS is owned and operated by the contractor on behalf of the US Army and has already flown more than 10.000 hours in operations. The aircraft observed on Sunday carries the US registration N159L and is assigned to Lasai Aviation LLC, a U.S. Army contractor. ARTEMIS I has been operating since around 2020, with ARTEMIS II following in 2022.
The US Army business jets-based special mission aircraft fleet also comprises the L3Harris designed and operated Airborne Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare System (ARES), which is based on a GLOBAL 6000 airframe.
Other ISR platforms, based on the GLOBAL 6500 airframe, are following: in 2023 the US Army picked MAG Air and L3Harris to deliver 2 Army Theater-Level High-Altitude Expeditionary Next Airborne (ATHENA) – Radar platforms, with a focus on long range radar sensing. The first of this pair of platforms has been operationally deployed for the first time to South Korea back in February. Later in 2023, SNC was picked instead to fit out another two GLOBAL 6500s as Army Theater Level High-Altitude Expeditionary Next Airborne - Signals Intelligence (ATHENA-S) instead.
All of these projects are considered stepping stones on the way to HADES, for High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System, is an ambitious project that dramatically improves range and endurance and sensor reach over the existing Army’s fixed wing aircraft for ISR, the RC-12 GUARDRAIL and others. The US Army considers HADES the first true Program in its intended Multi Domain Sensing System (MDSS) family of systems. It is to deliver “mobile, long endurance converged deep sensing through the collection of Communications Intelligence (COMINT), Electronics Intelligence (ELINT), and Synthetic Aperture Radar/Moving Target Indicator (SAR/MTI) data.
Bombardier has delivered the first GLOBAL 6500 for HADES conversion at the end of 2024, but the project is still not entirely defined. As of Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request, the number of aircraft to be converted has grown from 2 to 3, but these are still officially considered “prototypes” which will “inform future Army procurement decisions”.
The first pair of aircraft are “Increment 1” prototypes that will deliver an Initial capability including COMINT, ELINT, SAR/MTI; and a Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) digital backbone.
The 3rd prototype is “Increment 2” and is meant to integrate “advanced COMINT/ ELINT sensors and modernization upgrades, such as Launched Effects, Elecdtronic Warfare, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML).
The GLOBAL 6500 has an endurance of up to 18 hours and it is designed for high reliability and availability, expected to fly up to 750 hours between maintenance intervals with a 99.8% dispatch reliability. The business jet is just the base machine, which will now go through an extensive modification phase to integrate the specialised sensors and communications. It will be late 2026 before the first prototype rolls out as a fully integrated HADES platform, with the second planned to follow in 2027 and the 3rd in 2028.
SNC, Raytheon, L3Harris are all involved in supplying the variety of sensors and systems used on HADES. Bombardier and SNC are responsible for the airframes. The SAR/MTI radar originally picked for HADES, the Reconfigurable Aperture Precision Targeting Radar (RAPTR) for Vehicle and Dismount Exploitation Radar (VADER / (RADER), was originally designed for counterinsurgency operations so there is a separate programme ongoing to further evolve it into a longer ranged, more capable radar suitable for high end warfare applications. Another research and development project connected to HADES is for an electronically steerable antenna that will “facilitate aerial and space connectivity to enable intelligence and targeting data“.
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