Dassault advances Falcon 10X test campaign as second prototype joins fleet

Latest example of ultra-long-range business jet made maiden sortie on 24 September.
Dassault Aviation has quietly racked up three flights with its second Falcon 10X prototype since the twinjet made an unheralded maiden sortie late last month.

Unusually, the airframer did not announce the first flight on 24 September, instead disclosing the milestone as part of its regular ‘Falcon Flightline’ email round-up.

Even then, the news was kept to just six words: “A second aircraft is now flying,” it states.

Flight tracking data shows the ultra-long-range business jet (F-WTEN) has now completed three sorties, flying on 24 September, 28 September and 2 October.

It has now joined the programme’s lead prototype (F-WINS) at Istres air base in the south of France.

Dassault says the initial aircraft is “routinely flying three test missions a week”; flight tracking data indicates it last flew on 2 October.

Each flight lasts around 4h “in a methodical process of opening the envelope to higher speeds, angles of attack and altitudes”, it states.

To date, the highest speed recorded by the Rolls-Royce Pearl 10X-powered jet is Mach 0.85 – its long-range cruise speed.

Service entry for the Falcon 10X is now set for 2029, the airframer in July having pushed back a previous late-2027 target.

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