Miles Jamison
Sierra Nevada Corp. has conducted the initial flight testing of its RAPCON-X Bombardier Global 6500 jet.
SNC said Thursday the recent demonstration marks a significant step towards delivering the aircraft to contractor-owned, contractor-operated, or COCO, service customers.
Validating RAPCON-X’s Performance
By achieving flight performance handling qualification, or FPHQ, SNC confirmed the RAPCON-X’s consistent performance and airworthiness. The company is set to complete the final phase of flight testing for its two RAPCON-X aircraft this summer, paving the way for the delivery of this capability for COCO aerial intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or A-ISR, missions in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The FPHQ test, conducted in collaboration with Bombardier Defense, assessed the aircraft’s flight handling characteristics. It involved a comprehensive range of flight maneuvers to determine the RAPCON-X’s airworthiness and safety while also verifying the performance of the reduced vertical separation minimum, or RVSM, after the modifications.
“RAPCON-X provides a disruptive asymmetric advantage to combatant commanders today and we are proud to continue development of this significant capability,” said Tim Owings, executive vice president of mission solutions & technologies at SNC.
Josh Walsh, SNC vice president of programs, remarked, “Successfully completing this phase of flight testing proves SNC’s readiness to deliver the kind of mission-specific solutions that will give our soldiers the tactical advantage they need in today’s near-peer environment.”
Steve Patrick, vice president of Bombardier Defense, stated, “The partnership with SNC to execute its RAPCON-X solution has clearly demonstrated Bombardier Defense’s expertise, experience and flexibility in delivering solutions collaboratively with our partners to support our customers’ ISR modernization efforts.”
