Hensoldt, Lufthansa Technik Defense and Bombardier Defense announced today, on time for the ILA Berlin 2024 airshow, that the highly-specialized modification work on the Persistent German Airborne Surveillance System (PEGASUS) has achieved a significant milestone. Led by HENSOLDT for the German armed forces, the PEGASUS signal intelligence (SIGINT) system will be integrated on the Bombardier Global 6000 aircraft, the optimal platform to complete these critical missions. As part of this program, Bombardier was tasked with the foundational modification work package, collaboratively working with Lufthansa Technik Defense, who will complete the system integration at its special-mission centre in Hamburg, Germany. The first aircraft has now rolled out from the Bombardier Defense modification line in Wichita and is being prepared for the start of ground testing and for the subsequent flight. The remaining two aircraft are undergoing modifications in Bombardier’s facility.
”The roll-out following the recent passing of the Critical Design Review clearly shows that the PEGASUS program is on track. The underlying reconnaissance solution ‘KALAETRON Integral’ offers a worldwide unique high-performance reconnaissance capability based on powerful German key technology,” says Jürgen Halder, Vice President Airborne SIGINT at HENSOLDT.
“Bombardier Defense is proud to have the trust of HENSOLDT, Lufthansa Technik Defense and the Luftwaffe to complete this critical work on the high-performing Global 6000 aircraft for the Pegasus program,” said Steve Patrick, Vice President for Bombardier Defense. “Thanks to our companies’ continued close collaboration and joint expertise, we are making important strides and have a clear line of sight on the aircraft’s upcoming milestones, including the start of the flight test campaign in the coming months.”
“The roll-out of the first structurally modified Global 6000 aircraft indeed marks a major milestone, not just as an important prerequisite for Lufthansa Technik Defense’s PEGASUS work packages, but for the overall progress of this pioneering signals intelligence aircraft project,” says Michael von Puttkamer, Vice President Special Aircraft Services at Lufthansa Technik. “We thank HENSOLDT and Bombardier for the good cooperation and we almost can’t wait to see this aircraft taking to the air, performing its flight tests and returning to Hamburg again, where in the upcoming systems integration phase we will be proud to build on the high-quality work of the team in Wichita.”
In June 2021, HENSOLDT was awarded the contract to supply an airborne system for electronic signals intelligence on board three Bombardier jets based on its “Kalætron Integral” system, which collects and analyzes military signals from radar and radio systems. Since that award, Hensoldt, Lufthansa Technik Defense and Bombardier have collaborated closely on a joint design activity. At the end of 2023, HENSOLDT’s overall mission system design successfully passed customer acceptance. More recently, extensive structural modification work has been performed to prepare the first aircraft at Bombardier Defense’s U.S. base in Wichita, Kansas, which houses an important contingent of the company’s experienced and skilled defense workforce. This will also be the site of the initial ground and flight test activities.
Upon completion of initial testing, each aircraft will be transferred to Lufthansa Technik Defense’s facilities in Hamburg for further integration work. The overall program is valued at over one billion euros. HENSOLDT is acting as general contractor and bears overall responsibility for the realization of the project. Lufthansa Technik Defense will act as a subcontractor, procuring the modified aircraft from Bombardier and fitting and integrating the reconnaissance system developed by HENSOLDT into the platform. Many small and medium sized enterprises from all over Germany, Canada and the U.S. are involved in the project as part of the supply chain for all companies bringing Pegasus to the finish line.
HENSOLDT is a leading company in the European defence industry with a global reach. Based in Taufkirchen near Munich, the company develops complete sensor solutions for defence and security applications. As a system integrator, HENSOLDT offers platform-independent, networked solutions. Being a technology leader, the company is also driving forward the development of defence electronics and optronics and is continuously expanding its portfolio based on innovative approaches to data fusion, artificial intelligence and cyber security. In 2023, HENSOLDT achieved a turnover of 1.85 billion euros. Following the acquisition of ESG GmbH, the company employs around 8,000 people. HENSOLDT is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the MDAX.
Bombardier Inc. is a Canadian business jet manufacturer. Headquartered in Montreal, the company was founded in 1942 by Joseph-Armand Bombardier to market his snowmobiles and became one of the world’s biggest producers of aircraft and trains. In the 1970s and 1980s, the company diversified into public transport vehicles and commercial jets and became a multinational corporation. It grew particularly fast at the end of the 1980s when the turnover multiplied sixfold within six years. Bombardier manufactures two families of corporate jets, the Global and Challenger. On May 18, 2021, the Global 7500/8000 series during testing became the first business jet to break the sound barrier and the fastest civil aircraft since the Concorde. With deliveries of 138 business jets in 2023, Bombardier was the number one manufacturer of business jets in the world.
Since 2023, Lufthansa Technik AG has underlined its strategic decision to participate more strongly in the market for the maintenance of military aircraft with its Lufthansa Technik Defense brand, under which all activities in the defense business for the German Armed Forces and its NATO partners are bundled. Besides the PEGASUS project, Lufthansa Technik is also part of the industrial teams in various other current modernization and procurement programs for the German air and naval forces, such as the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft or the CH-47 Chinook heavy transport helicopter. In addition, Lufthansa Technik Defense has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Lockheed Martin, Rheinmetall and ESG for the technical support of the future German fleet of F-35 fighter aircraft.
