BY JAMES CARELESS
A new direction demands a new logo and look. For Bombardier and its Bombardier Defense division, the new brand identity represents the company’s positioning as a global aviation leader that delivers the highest-quality aircraft and service to the world’s leaders.
The new logo introduces the Mach symbol, which features the stylized silhouette of an aircraft breaking the sound barrier, a nod to the Global 8000 aircraft that accomplished this impressive feat during its flight test campaign in 2021, while the strokes of wind over a wing reference the company’s Learjet heritage.
“For Bombardier Defense specifically, the Bombardier Mach symbol is a testament to our aviation products and their performance, endurance, and range,” said Anne-Marie Thibaudeau, Bombardier Defense’s Director of Program Capture. “Our defence-configured Challenger and Global aircraft outperform the competition.”
A HISTORY OF INNOVATION
Doing things better is what Bombardier is all about. This heritage of excellence goes back to 1937, when Joseph-Armand Bombardier created the seven-passenger B7 snowmobile. Five years on, L’Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée was officially founded to manufacture the 12-passenger B12 snowmobile; followed by the ground-breaking Ski-Doo in 1959, subway cars starting in the 1970s, and — with the acquisition of Canadair in 1986 and Learjet Corporation in 1990 — advanced business jets like the Challenger and the Global.
“Bombardier has actually helped redefine the way the world moves since 1942,” said Thibaudeau. “We’ve helped develop reliable and state-of-the-art transportation. At Bombardier Defense specifically, we’re continuing to build on decades of experience by offering customized solutions with our Bombardier Challenger and Global jets, as well as tailored services ranging from engineering services to turnkey modification packages to our customers. These turnkey modification packages cover the engineering, building, testing, and certification of specialized aircraft for our customers. Hence our new logo with the Mach symbol: It represents our leadership and our hands-on approach to meeting our customers’ needs and requirements, so that they can perform their critical missions, whatever those may be.”
ISR, EW & AEW
In a world where information can make the difference between victory and defeat, the gathering of intelligence by military and government organizations is more vital than ever before. The transformed geopolitical landscape, combined with the technology advancements in recent years, has influenced the military needs for governments around the world. This has led to armed forces to turn towards solutions that are leaner , while exhibiting high performance in terms of speed and range. Militaries around the world need to maintain an information advantage and be effectively adapted to the fast-changing nature of the information environment. Bombardier saw the demand for new and improved planes for longer range missions, and the opportunity to configure its Challenger and Global family of aircraft to fly Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), Electronic Warfare (EW), and Airborne Early Warning (AEW) missions.
It is worth noting: As part of the recently announced Defence Policy Update (DPU), Our North, Strong and Free, the Government of Canada announced investments to acquire airborne early warning aircraft – which will vastly improve Canada’s ability to detect, track, and prioritize airborne threats sooner, ensuring a faster, better coordinated response with the U.S. when required. “We have a keen interest in the airborne early warning capability right here in our own country. We believe our platform is the best solution to provide this capability for Canada because they will be able to fly with the endurance and the speed and the performance that our forces will require,” said Thibaudeau.
“We already have two renowned mission system providers, L3Harris and Saab, that have chosen Bombardier’s Global as their platform of choice for this upcoming high-priority mission. We are looking forward to working with our partners and the Government of Canada to provide a solution that relies on the Canadian industry to protect Canadians and the country’s borders, in particular our Artic and northern regions.” explained Thibaudeau when asked about Bombardier’s strategy in light of DND’s need for AEW fixed wing platforms.
There’s a very good reason for using proven business jets in these missions, namely the existence of compact, lightweight signal detection systems that do not require the traditional larger aircraft variants to take them aloft. The result: With more efficient platforms like the Challenger 650 and the Global 5500/6500/7500, fuel consumption is lower than on larger airliners, making these Bombardier jets more affordable to fly without any compromise in ISR/EW/AEW mission performance. At the same time, these aircraft can match (or beat) their airliner-based counterparts in range, altitude, and speed, while accessing maintenance worldwide thanks to the vast existing network of service centers due to their popularity as civilian platforms.
In its DPU, the Canadian government also highlighted the importance of a sustainable solution for military operations. Bombardier is proud to be an industry leader with a yearly Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report that is tracking the company’s progress in reaching its net zero emissions targets for 2050. Bombardier is also currently the only company in its market that is offering an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for each of its aircraft. These EPDs look at the environmental footprint of the aircraft through their entire lifecycle, including the design, build, delivery, support, and eventual recycling of the aircraft. Bombardier Global aircraft are part of the next-generation fixed-wing solution for ISR & AEW missions that are increasingly being selected by countries around the world, being the platform of choice by the UAE and Sweden for AEW missions, and by the U.S. Army for ISR missions.
“These benefits explain why Five Eyes intelligence alliance countries, partners, and allies fly our aircraft, especially our Global aircraft that got recognized for its various missionized potential as it was introduced” Thibaudeau told CDR. “Today, we are serving countries in this regard such as the U.S., Germany, Sweden, and Australia. We’re quite proud of the increased success that our defence-configured aircraft has enjoyed in the last few years.”
GOING TO HADES FOR THE U.S. ARMY
In Greek mythology, Hades was the god of the underworld, where the souls of the dead reside. In U.S. Army parlance, HADES is an acronym for the High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System, a cutting-edge airborne intelligence-gathering system.
To create a prototype for the HADES platform, the U.S. Army is purchasing a Bombardier Defense Global 6500, with an option to buy two more over a three-year period. According to the U.S. Army news release that announced the deal, the HADES prototype(s) will be the first U.S. Army-owned large-cabin business jet(s) ever used for Aerial Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance platforms; providing advanced deep-sensing capabilities in multi-domain operations against peer and near-peer adversaries. The first Global 6500 is scheduled for delivery in autumn 2024.
“HADES will bring the Army increased range, speed, endurance and aerial ISR depth,” said U.S, Army Colonel. Joe S. Minor, Project Manager for Army fixed-wing aircraft. “HADES will operate at higher altitudes than legacy turboprop platforms. Higher altitudes equate to an ability to sense farther and more persistently into areas of interest. Deep sensing is the Army’s number-one operational imperative for the Army of 2030.”
The fact that the U.S. Army has selected the Global 6500 platform for HADES is a massive vote of confidence in Bombardier Defense’s approach to airborne surveillance. It’s a decision that makes sense to Anne-Marie Thibaudeau. “The geopolitical landscape today is actually evolving at quite a rapid pace, so it’s important that our customers select a key platform to enable them to perform their missions,” she said. “That’s exactly what our Challenger and Global platforms provide. They’re reliable, and they have more performance, range, and speed than the competition. That’s what sets them apart, along with their fuel efficiency and its lower operating costs.”
James Careless is CDR’s Ottawa Bureau Chief
