Dassault Aviation is moving ahead on development of major assemblies for what will become its flagship Falcon 10X—a 7,500-nm, Mach 0.925 aircraft that is set to enter service in 2027. The company brought a full-scale mockup of the 10X to its booth in the exhibit hall, providing a glimpse of the flight deck and 53-foot-long cabin.
The company had previously confirmed the delay, but chairman and CEO Eric Trappier told reporters yesterday at EBACE, “We are now confident that [2027] should work.”
He explained that the complications surrounding work during the pandemic, coupled with supply-chain issues that still plague the industry, pushed back the timing. Dassault evaluated the 10X's progress late in the year once the company had certified the Falcon 6X and decided on the new timeline.
As far as progress, Trappier noted the first examples of major assemblies—including the all-composite wings, fuselage, and empennage sections—have been built at Dassault and its partner factories. Final assembly is expected to begin later this year at Dassault’s facility in Bordeaux-Mérignac.
In addition, the Rolls-Royce Pearl 10X engine that will power the ultra-long-range aircraft has begun flight testing on a Boeing 747 “and is performing well,” Trappier said. Roughly 10 flights have been completed. The engine has completed about 2,500 hours of ground tests and 7,700 cycles and has already run in a test cell with 100% SAF. “With the increasing availability of SAF, flying this airplane with a small CO2 footprint will be possible,” he said.
Carlos Brana, executive v-p of civil aircraft for Dassault Aviation, further reported that “We have been testing for years now the systems in the airplane” accruing some 4,500 hours in areas such as the hydraulics, landing gear, and brakes.
Once certified, the 19-passenger 10X will be the largest purpose-built business jet with a cabin that is 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 m) tall, and 9 feet 1 inches wide. The cabin is designed with a modular approach that will enable customers to select zone lengths to accommodate an expanded dining/conference center, an entertainment area with a large-screen monitor, and/or a master suite with a private stand-up shower.
Its range will enable city-pair connections such as London to Buenos Aires, Los Angeles to Jeddah, or Geneva to Singapore.
The twinjet's Honeywell Epic-powered Easy IV flight deck will support new safety features such as touchscreen displays, a single-lever Smart Throttle, and automatic recovery mode.