Continuing resolution could ‘complicate’ Army’s HADES spy plane production: Official

A Bombardier Global 6500 aircraft. (Bombardier via US Army)

WASHINGTON — The US Army’s new spy plane program remains on track, but if lawmakers delay passing a 2027 budget, the service will not be able to move into production as planned, a senior defense official warned.

“We actually are still completely on cost with the program and completely on schedule, which is somewhat rare across the department,” Andrew Evans, the director for the Strategy & Transformation Office inside the Army’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence shop (G-2), told Breaking Defense.

“However, the CR [continuing resolution], which is out of our hands, does complicate that. So next year at this time, will I be able to say the same thing? I don’t know,” he added on the sidelines of the Annual Association of the US Army conference.

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So far, the Army is moving out with development of three High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) prototypes — Bombardier Global 6500 jets that Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) is outfitting with different tech packages. The first prototype, according to Evans, is slated to be delivered around the January 2027 timeframe and will be used in an operational demonstration to ensure that “everything from aperture to analytics is all connecting.” After that it will made available to Pentagon leaders to decide how to use the collection asset.

“They will tell us what their priority is, and the asset will fly to that area and begin collection operations,” Evans said.

The second prototype should be delivered roughly six months later, and the third one, which is “significantly advanced from the first two” is slated for delivery in 2028.

But after those three prototypes, the Army had been eyeing HADES production aircraft and planned to ink a deal with SNC around the start of 2027. However, lawmakers have not approved a fiscal 2027 defense spending bill and are funding the government on a continuing resolution through early December. A spending bill could take even longer given the upcoming midterm elections and Pentagon plans to work with lawmakers to reconfigure the spending request.

If those talks and budget slip further into 2027 or the defense leaders want to pull HADES funding for other priorities, then a production contract could be put on ice.

“We are ready to move in on the ‘27 [plan to] award a production contract for HADES; We cannot do that … until we clear a CR,” Evans said.

一架庞巴迪环球6500飞机。（庞巴迪公司供图，经美国陆军授权使用）

华盛顿——一位高级国防官员警告说，美国陆军的新型侦察机项目仍在按计划进行，但如果立法者推迟通过 2027 年预算，该军种将无法按计划投入生产。

“我们实际上仍然完全控制在项目成本之内，并且完全按计划进行，这在整个部门中都比较少见，”陆军情报副参谋长办公室 (G-2) 战略与转型办公室主任安德鲁·埃文斯告诉《防务新闻》。

“然而，持续拨款决议（CR）不在我们的掌控之中，这确实使情况变得复杂。所以明年这个时候，我还能说同样的话吗？我不知道，”他在美国陆军协会年会间隙补充道。

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目前，美国陆军正在推进三架高精度探测与利用系统（HADES）原型机的研发——这些原型机均基于庞巴迪环球6500型喷气式飞机，由内华达山脉公司（SNC）为其配备不同的技术套件。据埃文斯称，第一架原型机预计将于2027年1月左右交付，并将用于作战演示，以确保“从孔径到分析的所有环节都能无缝衔接”。之后，该原型机将交付给五角大楼领导人，由他们决定如何使用这一情报收集工具。

埃文斯说：“他们会告诉我们他们的优先事项是什么，然后这架飞机将飞往该区域并开始收集作业。”

第二个原型机应该会在大约六个月后交付，而第三个原型机“比前两个原型机有了显著的进步”，计划于 2028 年交付。

但在那三架原型机之后，陆军一直关注着HADES的量产型飞机，并计划在2027年初左右与SNC公司签署协议。然而，国会尚未批准2027财年的国防开支法案，目前政府依靠一项持续拨款决议维持运转至12月初。鉴于即将到来的中期选举，以及五角大楼计划与国会合作重新调整支出申请，支出法案的通过可能需要更长时间。

如果谈判和预算进一步推迟到 2027 年，或者国防领导人想把 HADES 的资金挪作他用，那么生产合同可能会被搁置。

埃文斯说：“我们准备推进 2027 年的计划，授予 HADES 制作合同；但在获得 CR 批准之前，我们不能这样做。”