38 | Flight International | 10-16 November 2015 flightglobal.com
BUSINESS AVIATION
SPECIAL REPORT
avionics and the data concentration net-
work”, says Kohler. Integrating the active con-
trol sidesticks has also involved extensive
work in “developing the control laws which
would be the interaction from the pilot through
the sidestick. It was new technology for us and
we had very strict design requirements.”
The transition of Gulfstream has been re-
markable from its dark days of the 1990s
when its workforce numbered in the hun-
dreds and it went through several owners
after being divested by original parent Grum-
man. Under General Dynamics, the company
has enjoyed a decade and a half of intense in-
vestment and product development, intro-
ducing more than half a dozen new types as
well as acquiring its mid-cabin portfolio –
what are now the G150 and G280 – from Isra-
el Aerospace Industries. Since 2006, Gulf-
stream has more than doubled its Savannah
workforce to 10,000, with a further 6,000
working elsewhere, including the company’s
maintenance and completion centres.
Gulfstream argues that it has managed to
keep an edge in the sector because it has in-
vested heavily in R&D. Gulfstream opened its
first R&D centre in Savannah in 2006 and now
there are four buildings, all situated close to the
new G500 and G600 final-assembly line, and
employing a total of 1,700 engineers. Accord-
ing to Burns, General Dynamics insists on high
levels of R&D spending, especially between
programmes. “It’s the view of our chairman
that we have to be continually investing in
new products,” he says. Before 2006, the com-
pany had tended to hire engineers on contract
when it had a new programme to develop, and
released them afterwards.COMPETITION
Although Gulfstream continues to face
strong competition from Dassault – which is
currently bringing two new products, the 5X
and 7X, to market – Bombardier’s problems
have seen it lose ground in an intensely com-
petitive long-range, large-cabin segment. In
July, the Canadian manufacturer announced
a two-year delay in its 7,300nm-range Global
7000, taking entry into service to the second
half of 2018. The even longer-range Global
8000, originally scheduled for 2017, is likely
to face a similar wait. This gives Gulfstream
several years of exclusivity in the 7,000nm-
plus range segment. “Our G650 remains a
unique product,” says Burns.
With its current six models, Gulfstream is
on track to build 150 aircraft this year,
around the same as last year. As for products
beyond the G500 and G600, Burns is under-
standably tight-lipped. Of all of its aircraft.
the midsize G150 faces most competition in a
slow-selling segment. While Gulfstream re-
mains committed, he admits “the market will
decide the G150’s future”. As for one of the
most elusive concepts in the industry, Burns
says there are no near term prospects of a su-personic business jet from Gulfstream. “But
as the technology evolves, we’ll become
more and more interested,” he says. “We
continue to invest hours in understanding
the technology.”
Gulfstream may have kept quiet about the
G500 and G600 for several years, but it is
making plenty of noise about the programmes
now. After more than a decade in which
emerging markets overtook the USA and Eu-
rope in terms of demand for this most Ameri-
can of brands, the economic slow down in
Brazil, China and Russia is seeing sales swing
back, and this year Gulfstream expects some
60% of its deliveries to be to its traditional
markets. With the arrival of the G500 and
G600, the manufacturer is giving customers
in this segment more choice in range, speed,
capacity and price than they have ever had. ■❯❯
Gulfstream says its investment in
pre-flight testing facilities has paid offThe G500 is being built in a new factoryGulfstreamGulfstream