Gulfstream fleet grows: Meet the G400, G800

Mark Burns, Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. president and parent company General Dynamics’ vice president, explained that the G400 is intended to fill “a void in innovation in this space” that has been “dull and dormant.” Presumably he was referring to the super-midsized class of bizjets. The G400, he said, would create a new market segment.

Details were scant, probably because the airplane is still in development. However, Burns promised a large cabin with the same width as the company’s G500 and G600; a 100-percent fresh air cabin with no recirculation and a plasma-ionizing, bacteria, spore, and odor-killing system; seats for up to 12 passengers; three floor plan options; and power from Pratt & Whitney PW800-812GA engines. Maximum range at Mach 0.85 will be 4,200 nautical miles, and the cockpit will feature Gulfstream’s Symmetry flight deck and dual head-up display projecting combined vision system imagery, pairing synthetic and infrared vision. Max cruise speed will be Mach 0.90.

The G400 is currently priced at $35 million. Entry into service is expected in 2025.

The G800 is the new behemoth in the Gulfstream fleet. It will replace the company’s current G650. Apparently the G700’s 7,500-nm range wasn’t quite optimal. The G800’s 8,000-nm maximum range (at Mach 0.85) is no doubt intended to humble that of Bombardier’s Global 7500, the previous leaders, which was claimed to have a 7,700-nm max range. (Bear in mind that any range boasts are for airplanes flying in optimal, no-wind conditions.) At Mach 0.90, the G800 can fly 7,000 nm.

The airplane will use Rolls-Royce Pearl engines, and have the same Symmetry cockpit, dual-HUD, and combined vision systems as the G400. Its wings and winglets are of a new design, and will let the airplane perform steep approaches with short landing distances.

Testing is under way on the first G800 test article, and deliveries of the $71.5 million airplane are set to begin in 2023.