Today, Dassault is most famous for its trijet business jets. However, this has not stopped Dassault from producing twinjet business jets such as their famous Dassault Falcon 2000.
As of the time of writing, Dassault has sold well over 600 copies of the Falcon 2000. This makes it not only the most successful Dassault business jet of all time, but also one of the most successful business jets of all time too!
Development
In 1984, Dassault released its famous Falcon 900 trijet. The Falcon 900 was itself developed from the Falcon 50, itself a development on the Falcon 20, which was released in 1965.
As a trijet, the Falcon 900 was more expensive to operate than its twinjet competitors. Operators of the Falcon 900 began to demand a derivative of the Falcon 900 that was much cheaper to operate.
Dassault obliged and begun development of a twinjet development of the Falcon 900. After performing a lot of research, Dassault found that Falcon 900 operators weren’t interested in them lengthening the jet. They only wanted a twinjet.
By late February 1993, Dassault had a completed prototype of a twinjet Falcon 900, which it would call the Falcon 2000. On March 4 that same year, Dassault would perform the aircraft’s first flight.
After performing a series of test flights for itself, Dassault would begin certification flights in all major jurisdictions. The Falcon 2000 would subsequently be certified in 1994.
Dassault would reveal the Falcon 2000 to potential customers that same year, with Dassault receiving multiple years’ worth of orders. Full-scale production of the Falcon 2000 would begin later, in 1995.
Operational History
When Dassault first introduced the Falcon 2000, Dassault intended it to be solely as a business jet. However, since its introduction, it has also become quite a popular military aircraft too!
Civilian
The first operators of the Dassault Falcon 2000 were mostly high net worth individuals corporate entities. Typically, they were operators of previous members of the Falcon family, before upgrading to the newer Falcon 2000.
In many cases, the relatively cheap nature of the Falcon 2000, whilst still maintaining relatively fast cruising speeds and having a relatively long range, was extremely appealing as a corporate jet.
A number of high net worth individuals have also set their sights on the Falcon 2000 for use as their personal jet. This is mostly for the previously mentioned points, but also because it can carry up to 19 passengers too!
Over the course of the mid-to-late 2000’s, a number of celebrities begin to take ownership of the Falcon 2000. Here they would use it to travel in style, without being mobbed by the paparazzi.
The 1990’s saw not only the introduction of the Falcon 2000, but also the popularization of fractional ownership companies. As a newly introduced, yet popular, business jet the Falcon 2000 was one of the first jets they bought.
As well as being a favorite of corporations, celebrities and fractional ownership companies, the Falcon 2000 has also become extremely popular with private charter companies too!
Military
Starting in the early 2000’s, the Falcon 2000 would enter service with a number of militaries around the world.
Most commonly, the Falcon 2000 is used as an executive transport aircraft. Currently, the Bulgarian, Slovenian and French governments all employ the Falcon 2000 to transport its government and military leaders around the world.
The Royal Thai Police also use a Dassault Falcon 2000 an an executive transport aircraft too.
Besides just operating as executive transport aircraft, the Falcon 2000 also operates in a number of other capacities too. The first military to use the Falcon 2000 in a non-executive transport capacity was the Republic of Korea Air Force.
In ROKAF service, the Falcon 2000 operates as a signals intelligence aircraft, serving alongside the ROKAF’s Hawker RC-800s (Hawker 800). Here, the Falcon 2000 is tasked with intercepting and decoding communications in enemy countries.
After seeing the Falcon 2000’s success as a signals intelligence aircraft, both the French and Japanese militaries have become interested in a maritime surveillance variant of the Falcon 2000.
Currently, the Japanese Coast Guard operates a fleet of Falcon 2000s for maritime patrol and surveillance purposes. The French Navy also have an order for the same aircraft too.
Features
Perhaps the most noticeable feature of the Dassault Falcon 2000 is that it is a twinjet. This makes it the newest member of the Falcon family that doesn’t have three engines (with the others being the Falcon 10 and Falcon 20).
The loss of this extra engine decreases both the range and the cruising speed of the Falcon 2000 (at least compared to the Falcon 900). On the surface of it, this makes the Falcon 2000 seem like the superior aircraft.
However, the Falcon 2000 has been given newer, more powerful and more fuel efficient engines. This makes the Falcon 2000 cheaper to operate per seat than the older Falcon 900.
This is especially true for many of the newer Falcon 2000 variants, which all have blended winglets that comes as standard.
All variants of the Falcon 2000 come with all-glass cockpits as standard. In recent years, many of the newer Falcon 2000 variants have had fly-by-wire, with Dassault offering cockpit upgrades on older Falcon 2000s too!
The Dassault Falcon 2000 is one only a handful of business jets produced before the year 2000, to have thrust reversers come as standard from the factory.
Due in part to many of these features, the Falcon 2000 can land at 50% more airports than other jets in its class. This is because it has both advanced braking and noise reduction technology come as standard.
Price
As of the time of writing, Dassault currently offers the Falcon 2000 for $32 million per unit. This makes the Falcon 2000 the cheapest business jet currently in production by Dassault.
With that being said, the Falcon 2000 has been on the market since the mid-1990’s. Due to this, there are a fair amount of Falcon 2000s on the secondary market, allowing you to acquire one at a discount!
On the low end, you can buy a Falcon 2000 from the mid-to-late 1990’s for roughly $3.2 million. However, these are usually early variants of the jet, and as such, have worse specs in total.
However, on the higher end, you can buy a Falcon 2000 from the late 2010’s or early 2020’s for roughly $9.5 million. These are virtually brand new Falcon 2000s, having only a few hundred air miles on them, and the latest variant(s)!
In terms of costs to operate, the Dassault Falcon 2000 is slightly on the cheaper end. Assuming you fly 450 hours per year, the Dassault Falcon 2000 costs roughly $4,824 per hour to operate.
On top of it being the cheapest jet for you to acquire brand new from Dassault, it is also the cheapest Dassault private jet to operate! This has helped to make it extremely popular among celebrities and large corporations.
Variants
Since its introduction, the Falcon 2000 has proven to be one of the most popular business jets. As such, Dassault have developed a number of Falcon 2000 variants, some of which have been more successful than others.
Falcon 2000
The Falcon 2000 is the standard and most basic variant of the entire Falcon 2000 line, having been released in 1995. As such, it is considered to be the weakest member of the Falcon 2000 line.
It is almost exactly the same as the Falcon 900, with the only major difference being that the Falcon 2000 is a twinjet, rather than a trijet like the Falcon 900.
The Falcon 2000 is powered by CFE738 turbofan engines, which were specially-designed for the Falcon 2000. Th CFE738 is a development of the GE27 engines used on the Sikorsky CH-53K.
Falcon 2000EX
By the early 2000’s, the standard Falcon 2000 had become expensive to operate than other twinjet business jets in its class. As such, Dassault began work on a newer variant of the Falcon 2000.
Dassault would designate this as the Falcon 2000EX. The main difference between the Falcon 2000EX and the standard Falcon 2000 is that the Falcon 2000EX has newer engines.
In essence, this made the Falcon 2000EX cheaper to operate than the standard Falcon 2000. This also gave it slightly superior max and cruising speeds, as well as a slightly extended range.
Falcon 2000EX EA Sy
Following the release of the Falcon 2000EX in 2003, Dassault decided to release yet another variant of the Falcon 2000 in 2004. This would be designated as the Falcon 2000 EX EA Sy.
Primarily, the EA Sy was given brand-new, enhanced avionics systems. On top of this, the EA Sy’s pressurization and oxygen systems were also completely redesigned too!
This was all done so that the Falcon 2000EX EA Sy could perform steep landings, usually in airports near built up areas, such as the famous London City Airport (where the aircraft actually need to be certified to land there!)
Falcon 2000DX
In 2005, Dassault began work on a variant of the Falcon 2000 that was the pinnacle of business jet technology at the time. Dassault would designate this as the Dassault Falcon 2000DX.
Based off the Falcon 2000EX EA Sy, Dassault would primarily make a series of adjustments to the engine intakes, fuel lines and fuel tank. They would also make minor alterations to the flight systems too.
These adjustments made the Falcon 2000DX 5% more fuel efficient than its predecessor. It was also the first business jet that could land land with its fuel tanks being almost empty, which gave it a vastly increased range.
Falcon 2000LX
By the late 2000’s, the concept of winglets had become widespread for business jets. In order to keep the Falcon 2000 relevant, Dassault partnered with the Seattle-based Aviation Partners.
Together, they would develop a variant of the Falcon 2000EX EA Sy that had blended winglets. This reduced drag, thus allowing the Dassault Falcon 2000LX to travel faster and further.
In fact, the Falcon 2000LX had a 4,000 nmi range, which was 750 nmi more than the Falcon 2000EX EA Sy. The winglets are also available as a retrofit kit for the entire Falcon 2000 line.
Falcon 2000 S
In 2010, Falcon 2000 customers began to complain that the Falcon 2000 needed a much longer runway than its competitors. As such, Dassault began to try to fix the problem.
Much of the work focused around altering the thrust reversing systems in order to make them more effective. This was accomplished by altering the mechanism to open at a shallower angle, thus being more effective.
In addition to this, Dassault would also alter the braking system in order to make it more effective as well. This was completed in 2011, with Dassault designating it as the Dassault Falcon 2000 S.
Falcon 2000LXS
In 2014, Dassault decided to create a variant of the Falcon 2000 that incorporated elements from both the 2000LX and 2000 S. This was done in an attempt to create a sort-of super-Falcon 2000.
Dassault used the 2000LX as the base, with them making all of the alterations it did on the 2000 S, once again. This created a long-range variant of the 2000 S.
This particular variant has become quite popular with air charter companies, mostly due to how versatile it can be. However, there are just as many private operators of the 2000LXS too!
Falcon 2000 MSA
In 2015, the Japanese Coast Guard was looking for a maritime surveillance aircraft to replace its Falcon 900s. In keeping with the tradition of using a member of the Falcon family, the Coast Guard chose to buy the MSA.
Using the Falcon 2000LXS as a base, Dassault made a number of alterations to the aircraft’s design to fulfill its purpose. Primarily, this is with the addition of a radar underneath the belly of the jet and designated observer areas.
The MSA’s primary duties are to scout for any lost ships, or ship s that shouldn’t be in Japanese waters. Dassault also modified the MSA to have lifebuoy dispensers, in case it comes across any ships in distress.
Falcon 2000 MRA
The MRA is exactly the same as the MSA. However, the MRA has been designed to be a maritime patrol aircraft, as well as a maritime surveillance aircraft.
In this capacity, the MRA has a number of other corrosion-proof features, beyond just its paint. However, these are naturally classified due to the sensitive nature of the MRA.
According to Dassault, the MRA has a number of highly classified reconnaissance technologies inside the cabin, as well as its two observer posts, which are borrowed from the MSA.
Specifications
| Specifications | Dassault Falcon 2000DX |
|---|---|
| Length | 20.23 m (66 ft 4 in) |
| Wingspan | 19.33 m (63 ft 5 in) |
| Height | 7.06 m (23 ft 2 in) |
| Crew | 2 (plus two flight attendants) |
| Passengers | 19 |
| Cruise Speed | 0.8 Mach (851 km/h; 529 mph; 460 kn) |
| Range | 6,020 km (3,740 mi, 3,250 nmi) |
| Service Ceiling | 15,500 m (50,900 ft) |
| MTOW | 18,600 kg (41,000 lb) |
How Safe is The Dassault Falcon 2000?
Whenever it comes to looking at which aircraft are the safest, and which are the most dangerous, private jets are pretty much always left off this list. This is done deliberately for a number of different reasons.
For starters, the laws governing commercial and private jets, whilst similar, are intrinsically different. Secondly, there is also the fact that only a small percentage of the world’s population will ever travel on a private jet!
Regardless, for those who are planning to fly on the Dassault Falcon 2000, you naturally want to know how safe or dangerous the aircraft is.
Luckily for you, the Falcon 2000 has never had a crash to date. This makes it not only one of the safest Dassault business jets ever produced, but also one of the safest business jets ever produced!
With that being said, the jet isn’t entirely without incident. In August 2015, a Falcon 2000 veered off the runway during takeoff at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport.
Thankfully, nobody was injured, and the jet only lightly damaged the paint (due to it rolling into a parked Falcon 50). The jet was subsequently repainted and re-entered into service.
Investigators determined that the maintenance crew was to blame, as they had not checked the braking systems. This caused the issue in the first place, and subsequently made it even worse!
What’s it Like to Fly on The Dassault Falcon 2000?
Due mostly to jobs I’ve held in the past, I have been fortunate enough to fly on pretty much every civilian variant of the Falcon 2000 ever produced! As such, I have a fairly good idea of what it’s like to fly on the Falcon 2000…
On the whole, I actually really like the Falcon 2000. Personally, I would say that it is probably the best business jet I’ve ever flown on!
But notice the use of the term “Business jet”. If you are looking to take your company executives on a long-haul flight, and work or brainstorm during the flight, the Falcon 2000 is probably the best jet you could fly on.
The entire cabin is laid out specifically to allow you to talk to one another and work together throughout the flight, both in comfort and in style. So for business users, it’s great!
However, if you are planning to go on a relaxing vacation, and just relax on the flight there and back, it’s not as good. Don’t get me wrong, if it’s a one-off, it’ll be fine, but if you’re using it solely to go on vacation, it’s not as good (at least in my opinion).
This is because there isn’t the dedicated entertainment area that there is one other jets like Gulfstream G500 and Challenger 650 have. Both of these jets are considered to be large jets, just as the Falcon 2000 is.
What do you think of the Dassault Falcon 2000? Have you ever flown on it? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Jerome via Flickr.