Despite recently losing a competitive bid to develop a new surveillance platform for the US Army, L3Harris remains confident in the prospects for its business that turns corporate jets into specialised military aircraft.
Although rival Sierra Nevada ultimately triumphed in the US Army’s High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) programme, which will see the Bombardier Global 6500 converted into a long-range intelligence collection platform, L3Harris says its maintains a robust “missionisation” business with a strong backlog and a long record of success.
“We’ve been doing that work since the 1980’s,” notes Jason Lambert, president of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) programmes at L3Harris.
That initial conversion involved modifying a Gulfstream III into a VC-20A executive transport aircraft for the US Air Force. In 1996, L3Harris began its first ISR missionisation programme – a then-classified effort based on the Hawker 800XP known as the Korea Peace Pioneer.
Decades later, the company’s business jet conversion portfolio includes a lifetime total of 77 aircraft completed or under contract. Lambert says L3Harris completed its 60th conversion in January.
That aircraft was a Global 6500 purchased and modified for the US Army Theater-level High-Altitude Expeditionary Next Airborne – Radar programme, commonly known as Athena-R.
L3Harris is partnered with MAG Aerospace on that effort, which aims to field a small fleet of contractor-owned-and-operated radar surveillance aircraft to the Indo-Pacific theatre. A similar L3Harris aircraft named Ares is already operating in the region with a suite of sensors that can spot ground targets for long-range precision strikes by rocket artillery or ballistic missiles.
Lambert reveals the Ares platform has already notched more than 6,000h over the Indo-Pacific, with operations continuing on a regular basis.
The Athena-R conversion that was completed in January represents the second aircraft in that fleet, with L3Harris delivering the first example to the US Army in late 2024 for testing and evaluation.
“We’re doing long-range precision sensing for targeting,” Lambert reveals. “Those aircraft are going through an end-to-end test cycle… [and] are going to be deployed to the Korean Peninsula.”
Rival Sierra Nevada is developing a sister aircraft known as Athena-S, which will house equipment for signals intelligence collection in a modified Global 6500. Both types will be contractor-owned-and-operated, while the follow-on HADES fleet will be a traditional procurement effort.
The US Army is not alone in its interest in business jet missionisation. The US Air Force is in the process of replacing its fleet of Lockheed Martin C-130-based electronic warfare aircraft with the new EA-37B – another L3Harris programme.
The planned fleet of 10 Compass Call jets use a heavily modified Gulfstream G550, fitted with a powerful suite of BAE Systems electronics capable of disrupting enemy communications, radars, navigation systems and air defence networks.
Four of those aircraft have already been delivered to the USAF, with the fifth expected shortly.
Regulators in Washington have separately approved a version of the EA-37B for sale to Italy, which is believed to be considering the acquisition of two aircraft to supplement its existing fleet of two G550-based airborne-early-warning jets.
Lambert notes delivery of those aircraft will mark the first time a member of NATO outside the USA has fielded a dedicated electronic attack capability.
Australia is also building a similar fleet of electronic warfare jets that Canberra calls the MC-55A Peregrin. L3Harris is under contract by the Royal Australian Air Force to convert four G550s for that initiative.
Lambert says L3Harris achieved a major milestone on that programme last year when it secured supplemental type certification from US civil regulators at the Federal Aviation Administration for changes to G550 outer mold line necessary to support Australia’s MC-55A conversion.
“Essentially the aerodynamics change when you change that outer mold line shape,” Lambert notes.
The powerful electronics and sensors included with those aircraft will be housed in a canoe-shaped compartment below the fuselage. A similar configuration is being used for the US Army’s Athena-R jets.
L3Harris completes airframe modification in Waco, Texas, followed by mission systems integration in Greenville, Texas.
Despite the hurdles involved with the conversion process, it generally remains a far cheaper and faster option than developing an entirely new, clean-sheet aircraft design.
“The market for business jets is really growing right now,” Lambert says. “Air forces around the world are renewing their fleets and [it] is a lot cheaper than starting a new programme.”
In addition to lower up-front cost and a faster delivery timeline, the conversion option also offers performance benefits in the form of improved size, weight and power metrics.
Flight endurance of up to 14h and service ceilings as high as 40,000ft are particularly beneficial for the ISR mission set, offering a dramatically improved line of sight for onboard sensors, while remaining farther from threats.
The G550-based EA-37B boasts a cruising speed more than double that of the USAF’s legacy C-130-based electronic attack aircraft, with nearly twice the range and an extra 20,000ft of operating altitude.
“It’s just a game changer with what you could do with the business jet platform,” Lambert says.
The conversion option also offers the added benefit of a robust global sustainment network. Lambert notes the typical non-military business jet customer expects minimal service disruptions and fast response times when maintenance issues arise. This has resulted in families of highly reliable aircraft that boasting availability rates in the high 90th percentile.
“Both Gulfstream and Bombardier are very successful in how they manage their supply chain and how they manage their sustainment,” Lambert notes. “We’re able to take advantage of that.”
In terms of new business prospects, L3Harris is partnering with Korean Air and Israeli radar manufacturer Elta to bid on an airborne early warning and control platform for South Korea.
Lambert says the trio successfully completed a set of initial tests on the project in 2024, with discussions between Seoul and the group continuing in 2025.
He notes L3Harris also sees business opportunity beyond Korea for that offering, which is housed in a Global 6500.
