A modified Bombardier 6000 affiliated with the Persistent German Airborne Surveillance System (PEGASUS) program, makes its maiden flight (Bombardier)
BELFAST — A trio of industry partners involved in the $1 billion Persistent German Airborne Surveillance System (PEGASUS) program have revealed the first of three modified Bombardier Global 6000 business jets made its maiden flight at the manufacturer’s Flight Test Centre (BFTC) in Wichita, Kan., in the second half of September.
Bombardier, along with German collaborators Lufthansa Technik Defense and Hensoldt announced the first flight milestone on Wednesday, noting that the aircraft was not outfitted with the signals intelligence (SIGINT) mission system central to the platform’s airborne surveillance role.
Hensoldt’s Kalaetron Integral package has been selected for integration, but in line with plans to first concentrate on an aircraft modification phase and first flight, the SIGINT system will only be fitted by Lufthansa at the company’s special-mission center in Hamburg, Germany, next year.
“Since then [the first flight in September] we’ve been flying the aircraft on a regular basis,” Steve Patrick, vice president of Bombardier Defense told reporters on Wednesday. “The aircraft is performing very well. … the test pilots confirmed that the aircraft handles as expected.”
He noted that all three of the PEGASUS affiliated aircraft will be transferred to Hamburg “over the coming months,” ahead of mission systems integration and a military certification process.
It will likely take “one to two years” for the airframes to be outfitted with the Kalaetron system, according to Jürgen Halder, vice president of airborne SIGINT at Hensoldt.
He added that additional flight tests with “entire systems” will follow, before deliveries to the German Air Force take place.
“Lufthansa Technik has completed its design activities for the integration of the mission system, the additional civil and military avionics systems as well as the aircraft cabin,” said Bombardier in a Wednesday statement. “The production process of interior parts has also already started in order to ensure the components’ readiness for immediate installation when the aircraft arrives in Hamburg.”
Berlin awarded Hensoldt a contract for PEGASUS development, production and SIGINT integration, including the three Global 6000 airframes in 2021, but the electronics supplier is confident that the German Air Force will agree to a follow-on buy, based on growing geopolitical instability.
“If you look at the current geopolitical situation … even though any aircraft can persistently monitor a vast area there are unfortunately too many hotspots globally,” to cover, said Halder. “We expect additional rise [an additional order] will be coming up eventually. Discussions are starting in a very early phase, but it’s apparent that three aircraft is not sufficient.”
Germany opted for PEGASUS to end an airborne SIGINT capability gap that emerged when a fleet of five Breguet BR1150 Atlantic aircraft were retired in 2010.
After initially settling on a plan to acquire Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton SIGINT-configured, high altitude long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial systems valued at $2.5 billion, Berlin scrapped it, amid concern over spiraling costs and safety standards for flight in European airspace. Instead, the Global 6000 crewed aircraft was decided on.
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