RAAF to replace Challenger CL-604 with Dassault Falcon 7X
 

RAAF to replace Challenger CL-604 with Dassault Falcon 7X

Defence has confirmed that the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has leased three Dassault Falcon 7X business jets to replace the Bombardier Challenger CL-604 jets operated by 34SQN in Canberra as VIP special purpose aircraft (SPA).

The first of the three aircraft was ferried from Dassault’s Merignac facility near Bordeaux, France, to a cabin interior finishing centre in Little Rock, Arkansas on March 29 using the “ASY” callsign commonly used by RAAF air mobility group (AMG) aircraft.

The aircraft was painted in familiar RAAF VIP fleet colours.

The Falcon 7X is a major capability leap from the smaller CL-604. It is powered by three P&W PW307A engines, has a maximum operating speed of 0.90 Mach and a range of up to 5,950nm, giving it a one-stop range capability to almost any destination on earth.

Just as importantly, the Falcon 7X has good short-field performance and a low pavement rating, allowing it to operate into remote and regional airfields.

The 12-16 seat cabin is 11.9m long and offers stand-up headroom of 1.88m, although it is not known what the RAAF cabin configuration will be. When cruising at 45,000 feet, the Falcon 7X has a relative cabin pressure of 4,000 feet.

Since 2001, Northrop Grumman Integrated Defence Services IDS (previously Qantas Defence Services) has delivered through-life support to 34 Squadron at Defence Establishment Fairbairn, which operates the current SPA fleet of two Boeing Business Jets (BBJs) and three Bombardier Challenger 604s.

All five aircraft, which are leased rather than Commonwealth-owned, entered service in 2002. They are still relatively young aircraft in terms of flying hours, with the fleet recently passing the 50,000 flying hour milestone.

https://australianaviation.com.au/20...ult-falcon-7x/

What poor journalism, ASY stands for Aussie and is used by ANY Australian Military Aircraft on overseas non tactical operations, including civil ops such as the A340 charters. Kind of funny to see the RAAF go from Falcon to Challenger then back to Falcons.

A56-001 was not surprisingly the serial number of the first bird that flew to Little Rock as Aussie 303, Contruction number 283