L3Harris To Begin Mods on Korean AEW&C Global 6500s

U.S. defense contractor L3Harris Technologies has received the first two Bombardier Global 6500s, destined for the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF), to begin special-mission-systems integration work. Building on a$2.26 billion contract signed in October—which saw Korea select the heavily modified platform for its next Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) capability—L3Harris says the receipt of the aircraft demonstrates “both program momentum and the maturity of its AERIS solution.”

Four aircraft will be converted for the ROKAF, a collaboration between L3Harris, Bombardier, Israel Aerospace Industries’ ELTA Systems, and Korean Air. No date has been given for aircraft completion, although L3Harris has confirmed that a “program is underway” for the timeline of system integration.

L3Harris’ AEW&C offering spans two missionized business jets: the AERIS system, using the now out-of-production Gulfstream G550, and the AERIS-X Bombardier Global 6500 conversion. With its selection of the latter, Korea became the opening customer for L3Harris’ Global 6500 solution, a template L3Harris believes it can successfully replicate elsewhere.

Speaking at the Singapore Airshow, L3Harris principal for international business development Jason Whitford told AIN that the AERIS program’s success in the Korean campaign has prompted “significant interest globally” for the platform. A technology-transfer arrangement that will see Korea adopt its own subsequent modification and production capability—described by Whitford as a “solid partnership and localization with Korean industry”—could also be “a winning model in other places as well,” he explained.

In particular, L3Harris believes localized manufacturing and sustainment capabilities adjacent to Korea’s upcoming AERIS-X aircraft will mark an improvement on the country’s existing Boeing E-7 Wedgetail AEW&Cs. The requirement to bring across support personnel from the U.S. “was a disaster for their operational availability, so [Korea] wanted that capability on the peninsula,” Whitford explained.

AERIS-X Advantages

Whitford said that the aircraft’s suitability goes far beyond the associated offsets, highlighting that Korea “were not happy with [E-7] as a customer for a number of reasons, mainly cost and operational availability.” However, with the speed, efficiency, and lower life cycle costs facilitated by business jets well understood, L3Harris is by far from the only integrator innovating in this area.

With AERIS-X having succeeded in Korea over competitor Saab’s GlobalEye (also utilising a modified Bombardier Global 6500), Whitford believes that the L3Harris solution’s unobstructed 360-degree AESA radar coverage was crucial in its selection. Unlike GlobalEye’s roof-mounted Erieye “ski box” radar, L3Harris’ modifications include radars in the nose and tail cone alongside two cheek fairings, which the company says promise full uninterrupted coverage. “If you’re thinking about a North Korea scenario where you potentially have hordes of legacy fighters, maybe low and slow drones, you don’t want to lose that picture every few minutes,” he explained.

Although Whitford acknowledges that alliances such as NATO and NORAD will likely require “capability-specific capabilities that are perhaps unique to each of those,” L3Harris’ focus on “plug-and-play” integration helps future-proof platforms for the coming decades. Additionally, while the technical advancement of sensors themselves continues to evolve, “I think what’s next is things like manned-unmanned teaming, or remote sensing that can be pulled in,” concluded Whitford. “[The ability to] deploy an unmanned capability farther ahead, at less risk, while still maintaining that battle management at the edge, can be a big advantage.”