FIRST LOOK • DASSAULT FALCON 10X
Will the 10X be worth the wait?
Due to enter service in 2029, pushed back from 2025 and then late 2027, the Dassault 10X will be the biggest purpose-built business jet ever produced. Words: Yves Le Marquand
FIRST LOOK
Will the 10X be worth the wait?
Due to enter service in 2029, pushed back from 2025 and then late 2027, the Dassault 10X will be the biggest purpose-built business jet ever produced. Words: Yves Le Marquand
DASSAULT FALCON 10X
WHEN MARCEL Dassault bought the vineyard now known as Château Dassault in 1955, he began improving the vines and modernising production. By 1969, the château achieved the rank of Grand Cru Classé. Today, it is a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé. Those who sample the produce of Château Dassault usually say it is worth the wait.
Dassault’s approach to Falcon 10X development and certification is similar. Entering the ultra-long-range market, the French aircraft maker has spent thousands of hours and millions of euros designing and building the aircraft from scratch. Behind the scenes there are airframe, avionics and flight control updates that get engineers excited. To most people it will simply be known as the biggest purpose-built business jet. Up close, its scale forces a step back. Like confronting French rugby star Sébastien Chabal in the scrum.
“If you’re not competitive, then it is very difficult to sell. We look at it from a perspective of combining price with capability.”
Dassault is not giving much away when it comes to price and interest. Rumoured to cost anywhere between $75m and $100m, the price is “competitive” with its ultra-long rivals, according to Jean Kayanakis, senior vice president, Worldwide Falcon Customer Service & Service Center Network. For comparison, the basic price of a Gulfstream G800 is about $72.5m and a Bombardier Global 8000 starts with a price tag of about $80.4m.
“Dassault has demonstrated its ability to sometimes be higher in price than competitors,” he says. “But if you’re not competitive, then it is very difficult to sell. We look at it from a perspective of combining price with capability.”
“You can live in the aircraft like you are at home.”
Dassault delivered 37 business aircraft in 2025, up from 31 in 2024. On that basis, even hitting 50% of its delivery target would be a big boost to sales momentum.
“Our attention is initially on flight testing and certification,” he says. “Many customers want to see the aircraft fly before they make a decision, we can then adjust based on orders. However, it would be great if we can get into the range of 20 aircraft per year.”
Flight testing
The 10X took to the skies for its maiden flight on June 19th. Test pilot Sébastien Dupont de Dinechin and co-pilot Fabrice Dougnac took off from runway 23 at Bordeaux-Mérignac, in south-west France, at 11:10am for a two-hour, 30-minute flight. The pilots evaluated handling qualities and systems at 15,000ft, then retracted the landing gear and all movable surfaces before climbing to 40,000ft, where they accelerated to Mach 0.82. After which the pair returned to Bordeaux-Mérignac, landing at 1:40pm.
Speaking at the time, Dassault CEO and chairman Éric Trappier said: “This inaugural flight is another milestone for Dassault. It is a reflection of the dedication and high skill of our engineering, production and flight teams, and also the quality of our global network of partners. All of us are excited to see this day as we launch into a new phase for the 10X.”
The first aircraft will soon be followed into the air by a second test aircraft nearing completion. A third is being outfitted with a full interior and will be used mainly for systems, cabin functionality and reliability testing.
“A fourth aircraft, set to be a fully outfitted production platform will be used to help validate cabin interior elements and ensure the successful integration of systems with the passenger experience,” Vadim Feldzer, head of Falcon Global Communications at Dassault tells us.
Dassault has not revealed how many flight test hours it has planned. As a point of comparison, the Falcon 6X, also an all-new design, accumulated 1,500 hours in the test campaign prior to certification.
The 10X features a 3,000ft cabin altitude at FL410 and receives ample natural light through 38 windows.
The 10X features a 3,000ft cabin altitude at FL410 and receives ample natural light through 38 windows.
Service entry delayed
Initially set for entry into service in 2025, certification was pushed to late 2027, then in mid-July Trappier announced certification has been set back again to 2029. According to Feldzer, this is to “acknowledge new certification requirements” and a “generally more cautious approach” by the certification authorities post Boeing 737.
Feldzer notes that Dassault can reduce some airborne certification requirements by allowing EASA and FAA pilots to validate various human factors elements of the new NeXus flight deck (more on that later) in the OEM’s new full-motion e-simulator based at its flight test centre in Istres, southern France.
The OEM has purpose-built a new assembly line for the 10X, and while total annual output figures are being kept quiet, Kayanakis says Dassault is not concerned about hitting capacity.
The 10X features the biggest cabin volume in its class at 6ft 8 inches high, 9ft 1 inch wide and 53ft 10 inches long. For comparison, a Gulfstream G700 cabin is 6ft 3 inches high, 8ft 2 inches wide and 56ft 11 inches long.
The cabin is also “highly customisable”, with hundreds of combinations available. “You can live in the aircraft like you are at home,” says Kayanakis. Dassault’s interior design team employed a philosophy of making the “customer feel like they are in an apartment, not a business jet”, he adds.
There is a convertible crew rest area because the 10X is being certified for three pilots, an L-shaped shower with two windows and, in an industry first, room for a queen size bed.
Dassault has put a lot of focus on passenger experience. The 10X features a 3,000ft cabin altitude at FL410 and receives ample natural light through 38 windows (sadly no skylight). Cabin noise should be the same as the Falcon 8X but will be achieved at higher speeds.
It also has the biggest baggage compartment in its class. “Any bigger would have designated the 10X as an airliner,” says Kayanakis. At about 198cuft, there is easily enough room for a barrel of Château Dassault or two.
Dassault CEO and chairman Éric Trappier at the 10X unveiling in Bordeaux-Merignac in March 2026.
The 10X features an optional stand-up shower located in the aft lavatory, designed to mitigate jet lag.
The 10X features an optional stand-up shower located in the aft lavatory, designed to mitigate jet lag.
In the cockpit
Innovations continue in the cockpit. “Simplification” and “reducing workload” are the dominant themes, Antoine Doussand, experimental test pilot, Dassault Aviation, tells CJI.
Calling on its jet fighter pedigree, Dassault has introduced its single throttle lever to the 10X. “One single throttle lever managing two engines may sound too simple and that is really the point,” says Doussand. The function means pilots no longer have to adjust engine parameters, instead they can focus on controlling the amount of power based on the phase of flight. The so-called Smart Throttle is also fully integrated into the digital flight control system, meaning that functions such as power management are part of the auto-recovery system.
The 10X is also the launch aircraft for Dassault’s NeXus flight deck, a purpose-built avionics system consisting of eight multi-function displays. About 50% of all hard switches found in the Falcon 6X have been moved down to these displays, while all physical keyboards have been replaced by digital counterparts.
Feldzer says the flight deck pulls “extensively” from Dassault’s fighter jet development experience. “It is the next step in advancing the fighter concepts embodied in the Falcon digital flight control system pioneered in the 7X and refined in the 6X. In essence, one flies the 10X more like a fighter in order to fly even more safely. That is to say, more heads up with a HUD [heads up] display that is more intuitive while also containing more information, including for power management,” he says.
“The NeXus flight deck fully embraces the ‘hands-on-throttle-and-stick’ [HOTAS] concept common from fighters,” he continues. “As just one example, a thumb rocker switch on the Smart Throttles controls speed brakes, so one never needs to take one’s hand off the throttle to activate them.”
Airframe and thin wing innovation
After testing showed composites provided no weight advantage when requirements such as lightning strikes were considered, Dassault opted to construct the fuselage in “conventional” aluminium. Resembling a “Coca-Cola bottle” on close inspection, the OEM has integrated numerous aerodynamic features that reduce drag, says Kayanakis.
The entire forward fuselage is optimised to support laminar flow; the wing and fuselage fairing employs area ruling and other shaping identified through computational fluid dynamics and wind tunnel testing. The empennage (or tail assembly) is also optimised with area ruling and, in a first for a Falcon, a T-tail that sets the stabiliser further aft, enabling it to be proportionally smaller while generating necessary pitch control.
The two-engined clean sheet 10X also includes an all-new “thin” wing. Unlike the fuselage, it is built almost entirely from carbon fibre composite materials. It features a curved trailing edge to improve low-speed performance and a high constant sweep angle and “low relative thickness” to reduce drag at high speed, says Kayanakis.
“In essence, the thin wing helps create a virtuous circle of weight management,” adds Feldzer. “After extensive design studies, engineers concluded that to achieve the ultra-wide cabin dimensions of the 10X, an aluminum wing would be too heavy and comparatively inefficient, whereas a composite wing would be feasible given industry experience with composites. Dassault drew on its composites experience with the Rafale [jet fighter] and also that of other OEMs that have certified commercial aircraft with composite wings. A lighter wing allows lighter landing gear and lighter, more efficient engines.”
Pearl 10X engines
The 10X will cruise at Mach 0.85 with a top cruise speed of Mach 0.9. This lets it fly between: New York to Shanghai, LA to Hong Kong and São Paulo to Dubai. Like other Falcons, Dassault says it will be certified for steep approaches enabling landings at airports like London City, UK.
That performance is thanks largely to an all-new product from engine partner Rolls-Royce. This is the first time a Dassault civil aircraft will have Rolls-Royce engines.
Perhaps still haunted by the issues with the Falcon 5X, Dassault made engines a top priority for its new aircraft. The Pearl 10X has been in development since 2021, accumulating 3,500 testing hours, including about 25 test flights covering 36,000nm.
Phillip Zeller, senior vice president at Rolls-Royce says the development team “sought maturity from day one”. He adds: “The 10X Pearl power plant offers the most efficient core available in business aviation with more than 18,000lbs of thrust.”
In testing, the Pearl 10X has been run on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and the Falcon 10X will be certified for 100% SAF operation. The engine incorporates multiple innovations borne out of Rolls-Royce’s Advance2 technology demonstrator programmes, including new materials and internal aerodynamics. It is equipped with a new blisk fan for greater efficiency, a new combustor for lower emissions and an advanced high-pressure turbine for longer life.
The Pearl engine family also includes Rolls Royce’s Engine Health Monitoring System that adds advanced vibration detection to thousands of other parameters, keeping maintenance managers better informed of engine condition. Plus, the engine is fully supported by Rolls-Royce’s CorporateCare Enhanced engine service programme.
Like the cockpit, maintenance is also a target of simplification. Dassault is already using 3D mockup data for spare parts engineering to define what will be needed most. It says it has more than 88,000 parts on the shelf. Parts should not be required as regularly though. “We are looking at 800 hours or 12 months between inspections,” says Kayanakis. “We are aiming for a 10-year interval target between major inspections.” The airframe comes with a 20-year warranty.
Château Dassault is best enjoyed at a bottle age of four to six years. The work required to produce the 10X is already in the barrel, it is now up to regulators to decide the vintage. If 2029 is the year the aircraft enters service, it will be a good year for more than one reason. Bordeaux winemakers will be celebrating the centenary of an exceptional vintage year for the region. One of the driest seasons on record produced wines known more for their delicacy. Who knows if 2029 will bear similar? Things do have a habit of moving in cycles.
Dassault's interior designers aimed to make the cabin feel more like an apartment than a business jet.
Comparing the competition
Dassault is planning to certify the Falcon 10X in 2029. How will it measure up against its main competitors for price, range, speed and cabin size? We compare the new jet with the Bombardier Global 8000, Gulfstream G800 and Gulfstream G700.
COMPARING AIRCRAFT before they are delivered to customers is always a risk. In the past manufacturers sometimes failed to live up to promises. Now, except for first deliveries which can get delayed, aircraft often perform better than predicted at launch. In this instance, the 10X’s competition is already airborne.
For existing customers, brand loyalty is likely to be the biggest decider between them. Few happy Gulfstream customers will choose a Global 8000 over a G700 or G800 for the sake of 500nm which they will probably never use. Existing Dassault customers will no doubt choose the Falcon 10X and love the cabin. New customers can enjoy choosing between what looks set to be four fantastic aircraft.
First delivery
- Bombardier Global 8000: December 2025
- Gulfstream G800: August 2025
- Gulfstream G700: April 2024
- Dassault Falcon 10X: (forecast) 2029
Gulfstream wins this. Despite delays to certification, Gulfstream delivered the first two aircraft to customers in April 2024, about one month after it received FAA type certification. Closely followed by deliveries to global launch customer Qatar Executive on May 22nd, 2024, with the aircraft flying to Doha. According to AMSTAT, 110 have been delivered.
The G800 was first delivered a year or so later. The first unit was outfitted at Gulfstream’s completions facility in Wisconsin, and delivered to an undisclosed customer, which was later identified as Pfizer. AMSTAT data shows 30 have been delivered in total.
The first Bombardier Global 8000 was delivered in December 2025 to Canadian businessman Patrick Dovigi. The second delivery to launch customer NetJets took place in March 2026. According to AMSTAT, 18 have been delivered to date.
Dassault’s aircraft development programme is well underway, despite numerous setbacks to the certification timeline pushing it from 2025 to 2027, and now to 2029. The first flight test vehicle took to the skies in June 2026. It will soon be followed by a second test aircraft nearing completion, and by a third and fourth, that are being outfitted with a full interior and will be used mainly for systems, cabin functionality and reliability testing.
List price
- Bombardier Global 8000: $78m
- Gulfstream G800: $72.5m
- Gulfstream G700: $78m
- Falcon 10X: $75-$100m (Dassault says it will be “competitive”)
Gulfstream’s G800 wins here, but customers are not getting as much cabin space. This could be important on longer flights when in the air for more than 12 hours.
Maximum range – Nautical miles
- Bombardier Global 8000: 8,000nm
- Gulfstream G800: 8,200nm
- Gulfstream G700: 7,500nm
- Falcon 10X: 7,500nm
All for eight passengers and four crew.
Buyers always look for a maximum range even if they rarely fly anything close to it, so this is an important category. The G800 wins this prize.
It had previously held the title jointly with the Global 8000, but Gulfstream has a tendency to increase its ranges after delivery. When Gulfstream launched the G500 in 2014, it said that the aircraft would fly 5,000nm/9,260 km at Mach 0.85. Now the G500 can go 5,300nm at this speed. The G600 also flies 400nm further than when launched (it has raised the maximum range three times). With the G650, it originally announced 5,000nm of range at Mach 0.90 and delivered 6,000nm. The G280 flies 200nm further than first promised.
These are theoretical ranges for eight passengers and four crew – with fuel reserves. Actual flights will, of course, be affected by air traffic control delays, the speed the aircraft flies at, weather (especially head winds) and other issues. In real life most missions will also be significantly shorter.
Maximum operating speed – Mach/mph/kph
- Bombardier Global 8000: 0.95/729/1,173
- Gulfstream G800: 0.935/717/1,154
- Gulfstream G700: 0.935/717/1,154
- Falcon 10X: 0.925/708/1,142
These are all very fast aircraft, but Bombardier’s Global 8000 – which has already flown at M1.015 – edges this. Although only by about 12 miles per hour or 19kph. This gives owners bragging rights but can easily be eaten up by air traffic management delays or traffic getting to the airport. Many customers will never fly this fast preferring to fly slower to save fuel and maximise range. But it is a nice selling point for Bombardier.
Judged by flight times between city pairs, speed records are the bragging rights for aircraft manufacturers (it is not clear if anyone else cares). Bombardier and Gulfstream recently entered into a dance of one-upmanship over the Los Angeles to Farnborough speed record.
Bombardier set the record in its Global 8000, completing the journey in 8 hours and 46 minutes at a top speed of Mach 0.93, beating the previous fastest time set by Gulfstream by 2.2%. Less than two weeks later, Gulfstream reported its G700 had reclaimed it, cutting Bombardier’s time by 19 minutes.
Cabin
Passengers:
- Bombardier Global 8000: Up to 19 (sleeps up to 13)
- Gulfstream G800: Up to 19 (sleeps up to 10)
- Gulfstream G700: Up to 19 (sleeps up to 13)
- Falcon 10X: Up to 19 (sleeps up to 13)
Height – feet and metres:
- Bombardier Global 8000: 6ft 2in/1.87m
- Gulfstream G800: 6ft 3in/1.9m
- Gulfstream G700: 6ft 3in/1.9m
- Falcon 10X: 6ft 8in/2.07m
Width – feet and metres:
- Bombardier Global 8000: 8ft/2.4m
- Gulfstream G800: 8ft 2in/2.48m
- Gulfstream G700: 8ft 2in/2.48m
- Falcon 10X: 9ft 1in/2.76m
Length – feet and metres:
- Bombardier Global 8000: 54ft 5in/16.58m
- Gulfstream G800: 46ft 10in/14.27m
- Gulfstream G700: 56ft 11in/17.34m
- Falcon 10X: 53ft 10in/16.4m
Volume – cubic feet:
- Bombardier Global 8000: 2,236
- Gulfstream G800: 2,138
- Gulfstream G700: 2,603
- Falcon 10X: 2,780
The Falcon 10X – with a volume of 2,780 cubic feet – wins this category. A few inches of width or height may not sound like a lot but does make a big difference, especially when at full capacity. But none of these aircraft are small. All have lots of windows and are designed to make flying comfortable.
Verdict
The days of manufacturers making bad aircraft are long gone. All three programmes have created exceptional ultra-long range aircraft. The decision really comes down to the brand or company that you prefer. Whichever aircraft you choose, you will have to wait for a new one. With the Falcon 10X this is after certification, but there are also significant backlogs for the Bombardier and Gulfstream products as well.
