Open architecture speeds HADES sensor integration, official says
NewsSeptember 24, 2026
NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland. The U.S. Army rapidly integrated an existing Air Force sensor onto a High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) prototype by using open payload bays and a digital backbone, an Army aviation leader said at the 2026 MOSA Industry and Government Summit.
Brig. Gen. Kevin Chaney, Deputy Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Maneuver Air, said the sensor was installed on the second HADES prototype, which is expected to begin flight testing soon.
“The ability just to have open bays with digital backbones that allow us to rapidly integrate sensor technologies as technology changes will allow us to maintain relevancy in the future,” Chaney said.
HADES is the Army’s developing high-altitude intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft. Its modular open systems approach (MOSA) is intended to support different electronic intelligence, communications intelligence, and radar payloads without requiring the aircraft to be redesigned for every new sensor.
That flexibility is important because different sensors and waveforms may perform better in different operating regions, Chaney said. Open interfaces could let the Army exchange payloads as missions and threats change while maintaining competition among suppliers.
Chaney said the Army also plans to apply modularity to legacy aircraft by separating operational flight program software from mission payloads. New sensors and other mission equipment could then be upgraded without repeatedly modifying flight-critical software.
A major operational flight program upgrade can cost between $50 million and $60 million and take about five years, Chaney said. Separating the two environments could help the Army modernize existing aircraft faster and at lower cost.
“If we do MOSA right up front, then we don’t have to do things like jailbreak,” Chaney said, referring to later efforts to make closed legacy systems exchange data. “If we did MOSA right a long time ago, we wouldn’t have to jailbreak systems.”
