General Dynamics' (GD, Financial)Â Gulfstream Aerospace is a renowned name in the aerospace and defense sector and has a rich history of making machines that define the standards of the space – the very fact that now got confirmed as the company won the prestigious Collier Trophy for its flagship business jet offering, G650. Back in 2008 the jet was announced with a promise to revolutionize business travel and today it seems that something the model has pulled off really well. Here’s a look at what this accomplishment means for Gulfstream and General Dynamics.
A little about the prestigious Collier Trophy
Gulfstream bagged the 2014 Robert J. Collier Trophy from National Aeronautics Association (NAA) this month. According to Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, since 1911 the Collier Trophy is awarded for “the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been thoroughly demonstrated by actual use during the preceding year.”
A selection committee is established every year from across the aerospace industry by invitation of the chairman of NAA. For the 2014 award, the selection committee comprised of 30 distinguished individuals who selected Gulfstream G650 over the remaining six – Embraer (ERJ, Financial) Legacy 500 business jet, Orion Exploration Flight Test-1, General Aviation Joint Steering Committee, Alan Eustace and the Stratospheric Explore (StratEx) Team, Aurora Flight Sciences Orion UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System), and F-16 Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance Team.
Why did the G650 get the award?
All seven nominations were worthy of the prestigious award, and the selection committee had to go through a very strong list of nominations that reflected the advancement of the world’s aviation industry. At the end Gulfstream’s offering to the top place. G650 business jet is a remarkable flying machine that has truly pushed up the game by a few notches. As the selection committee said, the jet “strengthened business aviation through significant technological advancements in aircraft performance, cabin comfort and safety.” AN interesting point to remember in this context is, this isn’t the first time that the G650 maker bagged this award. Way back in 2004 it had received the Collier Trophy for the development of the G550.
Priced at $65 million, the jet is the largest offering from Gulfstream in its class and is the only large-cabin business jet that can travel 7,000 nm nonstop and carry 18 passengers. Powered by Rolls-Royce engines, the jet has a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.925 and can cruise along smoothly even at an altitude of 51,000 feet. The aircraft even offers the super sophisticated fly-by-wire technology that makes the model safe and its operations accurate. According to a Forbes report, “It has the highest pressurization, largest cabin cross-section and biggest cabin windows of any purpose-built business jet in production. Ambient sound levels average in the mid- to upper-40 dBA range while cruising at Mach 0.88, according to many operators.” No other jet that’s currently flying can come close to the jet. The closest competition that’s coming its way is that from Bombardier’s Global 7000 and 8000, scheduled for deliveries from 2016 and 2017 respectively. All these came together to make the G650 the best of the advancements in the aviation space.
What this means for Gulfstream and General Dynamics
In simple terms, this means increased popularity for the model. Thanks to the super success of the G650, General Dynamics reported epic top-line last year and surpassed Bombardier (BDRAF, Financial) in terms of total value of business jets delivered, despite delivering lesser number of jets –Â business aviation sales for Gulfstream came to $8.1 billion compared with Bombardier’s $5.0 billion. This was made possible by the greater proportion of the costly G650 in its total deliveries. Now the company is working on G650ER, the improved version of the epic jet that will be able to deliver a range of 7,500 nm. So, with the Collier Trophy under its belt, Gulfstream should find it even easier now to compete against new competition such as Global 7000/8000, Dassault Aviation’s (DUAVF, Financial) Falcon 8X, and several others.
For General Dynamics this means better revenue prospects and a stronger business line. The company derives a huge amount of its revenue from defense segment. On the back of shrinking defense budget, the business jet segment is turning out to be a strong source of revenue.
