Dassault Aviation Launches Falcon 2000EX

Dassault Aviation chairman Charles Edelstenne confirmed here Monday that the company will offer the Falcon 2000EX, a 3,800-nmi, trans-Atlantic, twin-engine Falcon Jet slated to enter service in mid-2003. Priced at $24 million in 2003 dollars, Falcon 2000EX will offer virtually the same range and six-passenger, tanks-full payload as the $28 million Falcon 900C tri-jet, albeit with a 6.6-foot shorter cabin.

With the introduction of the 2000EX, Dassault has a twinjet to compete head-on with the Bombardier Challenger 604. The newest Falcon, though, still falls about 250 miles short of the six passenger range of Gulfstream IV-SP.

The fifth member of the Falcon Jet family will be fitted with 7,000-lbs-thrust PW308C engines, providing 18% more thrust for takeoff compared to the Falcon 2000's CFE738 turbofans. Just as importantly, the PW308Cs put out 10% more high altitude cruise thrust, enabling the 2000EX to climb directly to FL410 in ISA+10 degree C conditions, in spite of its 4,900-lb greater MTOW compared to Falcon 2000.

Falcon 2000EX's 25% increase in range, versus Falcon 2000, comes from adding 3,800 lbs of fuel in forward and aft fuselage fuel tanks. The new aircraft will have an 11-plus hour endurance, plus NBAA IFR reserves, allowing it to fly non-stop from New Orleans to Anchorage, La Paz, Lima or Dublin.

More importantly to most operators, Falcon 2000EX will be able to fly six passengers from Paris to New York against 95% probability winter headwinds.

Other systems details include beefier landing gear and brakes, a new Liebbher computerized bleed air system, and Intertechnique fuel system with more dispatch redundancy. Pratt & Whitney Canada and Nordam will build the entire power plant / nacelle assembly as an integrated package to Dassault's exacting aerodynamic specifications for minimum drag. The 2000EX initially will retain the 2000's Pro Line 4 avionics package, but after the first 20 to 30 units are built, the new aircraft will be fitted with the Falcon 900EX's four-screen EASy flat-panel avionics suite.

Aerodynamically and structurally, the 2000EX will be a virtual clone of the 2000 because its sister ship was designed with large margins. The 2000EX, though, will have automatic ground spoiler deployment and other refinements enabling it to achieve a 5,530 foot TOFL at MTOW. Its landing distance will be 2,633 feet at typical landing weights.

Full scale development of the 2000EX began in October 1999. First flight is slated for late 2001, with DGAC and FAA certification scheduled for 3rd quarter 2002.

Will 2000EX cannibalize sales from the 900C? "We fully intend to build five airplanes," Dassault Falcon Jet president John Rosanvallon told Show News. "The market will tell us what to do from there," he said.

By Fred George