Gulfstream is predicting increased sales of special-mission variants of its business jet family despite indecision by parent company General Dynamics over whether to perform the increasingly complex integration task in-house.
Interest in special-mission applications is focusing on both the high-end Gulfstream V, because of its size and range, and the smallest aircraft in the product line, the mid-size Gulfstream 100 (formerly the Astra SPX) because of its relatively low cost and high performance.
In the past year, Gulfstream has sold three GVs to the Israeli air force for electronic and signal intelligence and Israel is looking for additional aircraft as airborne early- warning platforms (Flight International, 20-26 November, 2001). Gulfstream also sold two search-and-rescue GVs to Japan's coast guard last year, and the Japanese Defence Agency is planning to acquire up to four multi-mission aircraft.
A GV has been ordered by the USA's University Corporation for Atmospheric Research for modification into a high-altitude instrumented platform, while a second medical evacuation GV is being prepared for delivery to the government of Saudi Arabia.
The US military and government agencies operate 12 GVs, designated C-37As, with four more aircraft on order. One C-37A remains to be delivered to the US Air Force under a five-aircraft lease programme to provide commander-in-chief transports.
Gulfstream continues to propose an EC-37 derivative of the GV to the US military for special electronic missions including airborne early warning and battlefield surveillance. The latest GV-SP will provide 10h on station 2h from base and a 51,000ft (15,555m) maximum altitude, the company says. An RC-20 variant of the GIV-SP is a candidate platform for the US Army's Aerial Common Sensor programme to replace the RC-12 Guadrail, an electronic-intelligence platform based on the Raytheon King Air twin-turboprop.
Two Astra SPXs, meanwhile, are in service with the US Air National Guard as C-38A medical transports. The aircraft, which has a maximum speed of Mach 0.875 and altitude of 45,000ft, is being used for target towing in Taiwan and as an air ambulance in Austria. Gulfstream expects special-mission interest in its super mid-size G200, which combines the wing of the G100 with a larger fuselage.
Source: Flight International
