Gulfstream has confirmed the replacement of the G300 with the G350, completing the revamp of its entire range begun 18 months ago at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention in Orlando.
Formally announcing the variant at Asian Aerospace, president Bryan Moss said the $27.5 million aircraft - which combines the fuselage and Rolls-Royce Tay engines of the G400 with the cockpit of the larger G500 and G550 - will allow the company to compete more strongly with the Dassault Falcon 2000EX and the Bombardier Challenger 604 in the large-cabin, mid-range segment.
The G350 will be a lower-specification, shorter-range and cheaper stablemate of the G450, introduced at NBAA last year, which itself will replace the G400 (formerly the GIV-SP). The certification process for the two will work in parallel, with certification for the 350 likely in the fourth quarter and deliveries beginning in the third quarter of 2005. Both aircraft will feature the Honeywell PlaneView flightdeck and Primus Epic avionics and pilot ratings will be the same. Unlike the G450, the G350 does not have an Enhanced Vision System, in-cabin electronics and communications systems and head up display as standard, and its range of just over 7,000km (3,800nm) is about 1,000km less than the G450's.
Next in the pipeline is development of the G150 to replace the G100 (the old Galaxy Astra SPX), which enters service in 2006 with NetJets.
Meanwhile, Moss has hinted that Gulfstream might have to take a more active role as a systems integrator on special-mission aircraft as it pushes to exploit the growing market for intelligence-gathering platforms. Special missions represents about 10% of Gulfstream's sales, but Gulfstream has until now acted purely as the airframe provider for its partners. "From a business standpoint, we would prefer not to be an integrator," he says.
Source: Flight International
