Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) has completed the first test flight of its Rapcon-X aerial intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platform earlier this month in Hagerstown, Maryland.  The Rapcon-X ISR jet is based on a Bombardier Global 6500 that SNC is heavily modifying for the U.S. Army’s Theater-level High-altitude Expeditionary Next Airborne ISR (Athena) program.

Bombardier delivered the two ultra-long-range business jets to SNC’s Hagerstown integration facility in late 2022. Through Rapcon-X (short for “rapidly configurable to any mission”), SNC aims to reduce the time it takes to add, upgrade, or swap out systems in ISR aircraft. The open-architecture design allows operators to swiftly reconfigure the interior for various special mission requirements without costly redesign work. 

“Our clear commitment to open architecture maximizes both capability and schedules,” said Tim Harper, vice president of business development at SNC. “Rapcon-X is a quick-reaction capability built to program-of-record standards utilizing modular hardware and software.”

SNC intends to scale Rapcon-X to other aircraft, including the Bombardier Challenger 650 and King Air 350ER. The Finnish Border Guard will use the Rapcon-X system in a pair of modified Bombardier Challenger 650s it purchased from SNC to replace two aging Dornier Do-228 turboprops.

In August, the U.S. Army selected SNC to lead ISR systems integration for the High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System program, which aims to modernize its fleet of aging ISR turboprops.