Leidos last week unveiled the nearly complete ARTEMIS II aircraft at a ribbon cutting ceremony in Virginia.
It's a Challenger 650 super midsize business jet modified for long-range and high-accuracy intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).
Why you should know: ARTEMIS II is the latest in the company's expanding fleet of self-owned and operated ISR planes designed to fill a gap in the U.S. Army's ability to collect battlefield intelligence.
Like its predecessor ARTEMIS I, ARTEMIS II can fly higher and sense the environment below at greater distances than Army medium altitude turboprop platforms like Guardrail, Saturn Arch and ARL.
These legacy platforms, while effective for counterinsurgency missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, for example, fly at lower altitudes and sense at closer distances, leaving them more vulnerable in contested airspace.
As the U.S. military transitions to near-peer conflicts, it will need platforms that collect and relay battlefield intelligence from safe standoff distances.
Leidos will deploy ARTEMIS II next month under a unique ISR-as-a-service business model and expects to fly intelligence gathering missions in support of Army special operations abroad.
'ARTEMIS II continues our company's long history of reconfiguring aircraft with advanced technology to support the warfighter,' said Leidos Chairman and CEO Roger Krone. 'This ribbon cutting is a special milestone because it symbolizes Leidos continuing to lean forward to expand the Army's capabilities around the world.'
Looking ahead: In the coming years, Leidos plans to operate several special mission aircraft to support Army ISR.
'The next evolutionary step from here will be to expand our fleet with aircraft that can go faster and sense the environment at even greater distances to reach in and gather important battlefield intelligence,' says Leidos Director of Aviation Operations Micah Stauffer.
Stauffer said the next Leidos special mission aircraft will be a reconfigured Global 6500, roughly twice the length of ARTEMIS II.
The company recently acquired two of these jets and will reconfigure them at a Leidos facility in Virginia over the next year.
Please contact the Leidos media relations team for more information.
Statements in this announcement, other than historical data and information, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause our actual results, performance, achievements, or industry results to be very different from the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set forth in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended January 1, 2021, and other such filings that Leidos makes with the SEC from time to time. Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.
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