'We'll be there first,' Vows Boisture,
as Gulfstream, Lockheed Team on SSBJ

Lockheed Martin's famed Skunk Works team is at it again, but this time it's not a super-secret "black program" for the U.S. Air Force. Gulfstream Aerospace said here Monday that it's entered into a joint venture with Lockheed Martin to study the feasibility a Mach 1.6- to 2.0-supersonic business jet.

The proposed SSBJ would be able to carry eight-passengers more than 4,000 nmi. As envisioned, the SSBJ would have the airport performance and noise characteristics of today's business jets.

The two firms have entered into an 18- to 24-month initial feasibility study to determine the technical, environmental, regulatory, certification, economic and market issues regarding development of a SSBJ, Gulfstream president and COO William Boisture said. If launched, the SSBJ could be a reality by 2008 to 2010.

Boisture wouldn't speculate about selling price or number of firm orders needed to launch the program, but he suggested that demand for the SSBJ might be increased through Gulfstream's successful fractional ownership program. "We have customers ready to sign up today," he said.

"If somebody is going to do this, we'll be there first," Boisture said when asked if Gulfstream was announcing the SSBJ design study in response to Dassault's proposed SSBJ. "Range is no longer the issue," he said. "The remaining frontier is time."

"If there's going to be a race, I'd like to be on our team," Gulfstream's vice chairman and CEO Bryan Moss said on the subject of the French company's apparent head start on SSBJ technology development.

Lockheed Martin will be primarily responsible for the initial design study. Gulfstream will dedicate "a modest number of people from advanced design," plus evaluate market factors and customer needs, Boisture said.

By Fred George