Bombardier Global Express. The Bombardier Global Express is a large cabin, long-range business jet designed and manufactured by Bombardier Aviation.

Announced in October 1991, it first flew in October 1996, received its Canadian type certification in July 1998 and entered service in July 1999.

Initially powered by two BMW/Rolls-Royce BR710s, it shares its fuselage cross section with the Canadair Regional Jet and Challenger 600 with a new wing and tail.

The shorter range Global 5000 is slightly smaller. The XRS is an improved version of the Global Express and the Global 6000 is an upgrade to the XRS that replaces the older avionics. The longer range Global 5500/6500 are powered by new Rolls-Royce Pearl engines with lower fuel burn and were unveiled in May 2018.

The larger and stretched Global 7500/8000 have longer ranges.

Development

Project definition
After acquiring Canadair along with its Challenger 600 business jet in 1986, Bombardier studied a longer range business aircraft in which it aimed to carry eight passengers and four crew over 12,000 km (6,500 nmi) at Mach 0.85. To meet this goal, a joint-definition team was established at the company's Montreal facility in the early 1990s. By 1994, the team comprised 200 engineers, evenly divided between Canadair and various partners, including Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Anglo-German engine manufacturer BMW Rolls-Royce.

These partners independently designed their own elements of the aircraft and shared a stake in the program. The choice of suppliers influenced the aircraft design, with its various systems being selected before the detailed design phase. The CATIA  software was used for the kinematics, to feed finite-element analysis software for structural design, and computational fluid dynamics software for aerodynamics, the latter being confirmed by wind tunnel testing.

The new aircraft was designed to use the minimum number of components while still ensuring that no single failure would result in a diversion or the inability to dispatch a flight.  Bombardier worked towards a 99.5% dispatch reliability goal. As operators sought a level of safety enjoyed by airline aircraft, Bombardier was influenced to use  design rules, such as the incorporation of a maintenance computer to detect, indicate, and isolate faults, although ETOPS rules were not a design requirement. A conventional mechanical flight control system was selected in the new aircraft design instead of  fly-by-wire.  This was mainly due to the high development expense and customer apprehension of fly-by-wire.

Launch and flight testing

In October 1991, the Global Express was unveiled at the  convention. In December 1993, the programme was launched. In June 1994, its high-speed configuration was frozen while the low-speed configuration was established in August 1994. By then, most critical design decisions were taken and almost all suppliers had been selected. In January 1995, the definition phase was winding down before detailed design.

By June 1995, the backlog was over 40 aircraft, sold out until 2000, leading to Bombardier to expand its early production plans. At launch, range was extended to  to outdo rival Gulfstream. Bombardier guaranteed the empty weight and range to reply to Gulfstream criticism. Around 100 sales were needed to cover the development costs. In October 1995, the first prototype manufacture began. The first sections were expected in December at de Havilland's in Toronto, with final assembly to start in March 1996. By June 1996, the prototype was complete and conducting flight-readiness reviews ahead of its roll-out and first flight.

On 13 October 1996, the first prototype performed its maiden flight from Toronto, one month later than planned, lasting for 2 hours 46 minutes and attaining 11,000 ft (3,350 m) and 210 kn (390 km/h). The flight test programme used four prototypes, accumulating 2,200 flight hours. The Bombardier Flight Test Center in Wichita, Kansas was extended by 9,100 m2 (100,000 ft2) for the test programme. In February 1997, the second prototype made its first flight and the third in May 1997.

In late 1995, type certification was forecast for March 1998. In July 1998, Canadian type certification was granted. European and US approvals followed shortly thereafter. The first 15 aircraft were to be delivered before January 1999. The Global Express entered service in July 1999.

Production
Since 2023, the Global Express has been assembled at the Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, and formerly at Downsview Airport in Toronto.

Since 2012, Japanese aerospace firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has built the wing and centre fuselage sections at its Toronto facility located east of the airport on Northwest Drive, and formerly at 2025 Meadowvale Boulevard from 2007 to 2012. Bombardier subsidiaries involved are Canadair as the design leader and nose manufacturer; Short Brothers in Belfast for the engine nacelles design and manufacture, horizontal stabiliser and forward fuselage; and de Havilland Canada for the rear fuselage, vertical tail and final assembly. The landing gear is produced by Dowty, flight controls by Sextant Avionique, the fuel system by Parker Bertea Aerospace, the core avionics by Honeywell, the APU by AlliedSignal, the electrical system by Lucas Aerospace, and the air management system by ABG-Semca.

In May 2015, production was reduced because of lower demand, caused by slowing economy and geopolitics in Latin America, Russia and China markets. By October 2018, Bombardier had a backlog of 202 aircraft valued at C$14.1 billion ($11 billion), including 128 Global Express aircraft: 67 Global 5000/6000 and four Global 5500/6500.
The Global Express program cost $800 million.

Design

The Global Express is a high speed business/corporate aircraft with a range of  at , a  service ceiling and a 14 hours endurance.
The semi monocoque airframe is made of lightweight aluminum alloys and composite materials. 
It has a low wing, tricycle landing gear and fuselage-mounted engines. 

The clean-sheet design draws upon the earlier Canadair CL-600 and Bombardier CRJ.
It shares its fuselage cross-section with these aircraft, paired with a new T-tail and wing.
The latter is a supercritical airfoil with a 35° wing sweep and winglets.
This flexible wing naturally attenuates turbulence.
It was initially powered by two BMW-Rolls-Royce BR710 turbofans controlled by FADEC.
The flightdeck features a six screen Honeywell Primus 2000XP EFIS suite.

The Global Express was the business jet with the largest cabin, until being surpassed by the later Gulfstream G650.
It can accommodate 12 to 16 passengers in three cabin sections: mostly a forward four-chair club section, a central four-seat conference grouping and an aft three-place divan facing two chairs.
Most have a forward galley, crew rest chair and crew lavatory.
The 10.3-psi cabin pressurization maintains a 4,500-ft. cabin altitude up to FL 450 and 5,680 ft. at the FL 510 ceiling.
The cabin has an unobstructed length of  while the floor is dropped by  from the Challenger to increase width at shoulder level, while the windows have been repositioned and enlarged by 25%.

Variants

Global 5000

The Global 5000 was announced in October 2001. It was launched in February 2002, with letters of intent for 15 aircraft with a  MTOW, and a  range at Mach 0.85.
The first aircraft flew on 7 March 2003.
It was introduced in April 2005. There were 224 in service in 2018.
In April 2008, Bombardier lifted its MTOW to  to increase its Mach 0.85 range to .

Its cabin is  shorter than the Global 6000 with a  lower MTOW depending on service bulletins. It has a  range at .
The spec basic operating weight is  but are actually closer to .
Early models kept the Honeywell Primus 2000XP avionics, updated with the Bombardier Vision flight deck based on the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics since 2012.

It can carry between 8 and 19 passengers. The new seat converts to a full berth. There is an optional private room aft and the galley has room to prepare 16 five-course meals.
It was priced at $40M in 2008. It has forward and aft lavatories. The crew rest area was removed, but could be restored.
The tail fuel tank was removed and fuel is limited in the wings. Some avionics are rearranged to gain usable cabin length. The interior completions allowance is 3,200 kg.

In 2018, its unit cost was US$50.44 million.

At high-speed cruise, it burns  of fuel in the first hour, then  the second hour and  for the third hour.
In 2018, Early models with Honeywell avionics were sold for $10–20 million, while post-2012 aircraft with the modern Cockpit can fetch $22–36 million.
A major inspection every 180 months cost $800,000-1.2 million. Two 8,000h engine overhauls can cost $4 million.
The cheaper and more efficient Gulfstream G450 or Falcon 900LX are slower, have less range and smaller cabins.

Global Express XRS

The improved Global Express XRS was announced on 6 October 2003 during the NBAA Convention at Orlando, Florida. It replaced the original Global Express and provides greater range at high speed, cabin upgrades, improved takeoff performance, fast fueling capability and the Bombardier Enhanced Vision System (BEVS) as standard equipment. A new forward fuel tank in the wing/body fairing increases the usable fuel capacity by up to 1,486 lbs, allowing it to fly 6,500 nm at Mach 0.82, 6,150 nm at Mach 0.85 or 5,450 nm at Mach 0.87. It provides improved pressurization with a 4,500 ft cabin altitude at 45,000 ft and a 5,700 ft cabin altitude at 51,000 ft; a 25% improvement on the previous Global cabin.

Global 6000

Bombardier rebranded the Global Express XRS and upgraded the avionics from the Honeywell Primus 2000XP to the new Bombarder Vision flight deck, based on the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics suite, to create the Global 6000. The Global 6000 was announced in 2011 and production started in 2012.
Its flexible wing and  wing loading, the highest among its competitors, gives a comfortable ride in turbulence. It has improved acoustical insulation compared to its predecessor.
On long trips, its fuel burn during the first hour is  for the second, then for the third  afterwards.
A Checks are scheduled every 750 hours, and for C Checks every 30 months. Engine reserves amount to $260 per hour.
Over 315 were delivered by March 2019. Its competitors include the more fuel-efficient  Dassault Falcon 8X, the  Gulfstream G600 or even the  G650.

In 2018, its unit cost was US$62.31 million.

Global 5500/6500

In May 2018, Bombardier unveiled the Global 5500 and 6500. It was expected to enter service at the end of 2019. It has an optimized wing for a Mach 0.90 top speed, a revamped cabin inspired by the Global 7500 with its Nuage seat and updated Rolls-Royce BR710 Pearl engines with up to 13% lower fuel burn for better operating costs. It has better hot and high performance and  of additional range for , respectively.
The engines have 9% more thrust.

By October 2018, 70% of the flight testing hours were completed.
The programme involved two flight-test Global 6500s, as the 5500 is a simple  shrink.
The redesigned wings are built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
By December, the flight-test program was nearly three-quarters complete.
By May 2019, 90% of the flight testing was completed by two modified 6000s and one modified 5000.

In September 2019, Bombardier announced the Transport Canada Type Certification of both models, before entry-into-service later in 2019 and FAA/EASA approval.
Bombardier announced the Global 6500 entry-into-service on 1 October.
EASA Type Certification of both models was announced in October 2019.
Shortly after, the Global 5500 range was extended by  to  at Mach 0.85.

FAA Type Certification of both variants was announced in December 2019.
Bombardier announced the entry-into-service of the Global 5500 in June 2020. The first Global 5500 was delivered in July 2020, to " longtime Bombardier customer Unicorp National Developments, headquartered in Orlando, Florida."

In 2023, the Global 5500 costs $47.4 million, while the Global 6500 costs $58 million.

Military variants 

The Global Express has been modified for military missions.
 GlobalEye multi-role AEW&C, a Global 6000 with the SAAB Erieye's ER AESA radar for the United Arab Emirates Air Force
 Project Dolphin: Conversion of Global 6000 by Marshall into surveillance aircraft for United Arab Emirates. Two converted.
 The Raytheon Sentinel is a surveillance aircraft formerly used by the Royal Air Force
 Saab Swordfish maritime patrol aircraft - built on Global 6000 platform by General Dynamic Mission Systems-Canada and Bombardier Aviation
 PAL Aerospace P-6 maritime patrol aircraft - built on Global 6500 platform by PAL Aerospace and Bombardier Aviation but evolved from P-4 MPA based on the former Bombardier Q-400 aircraft
 E-11A, United States Air Force designation for Global aircraft being used as a platform for the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node.

A BD-700 has carried the High-Altitude Lidar Operational Experiment (HALOE) payload, deploying to Africa and Afghanistan to survey large areas rapidly.

In January 2020, the German Federal Ministry of Defence chose the Global 6000 over the unmanned Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton for the “Persistent German Airborne Surveillance System” (PEGASUS) program, to better integrate in the air traffic control.

In March 2019 Turkey's Presidency of Defense Industries, SSB, announced that two green Bombardier Global 6000s had been delivered to the facilities of Turkish Aerospace to undergo modification to the Hava SOJ (air stand-off jammer) configuration.

In July 2023, L3Harris unveiled a Conformal Airborne Early Warning version as a replacement for the E-3 Sentry used by European NATO countries.

In December 2023, the US Army awarded a firm-fixed-price contract for one Global 6500, with an option for two more, to be used as a High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft. In November 2024, the first plane was delivered.

Operators

Most operators fly 450 to 600 hours per year. Fleet operators frequently fly more than 100 hours per month.
By February 2015, over 600 aircraft accumulated more than 1.5 million flight hours and 570,000 cycles. In May 2018, 20 years after the type's introduction, more than 750 Globals were in service.

Half the 6000s are registered in North America, mostly in the US. NetJets operates at least six and large corporations like Aetna, Caterpillar, CitiGroup, Limited Brands, McDonald's and Texas Instruments fly the aircraft.
Malta-based VistaJet operates twenty eight 6000s, one Global XRS and has confirmed a delivery schedule of multiple Global 7500 throughout 2021. Lisbon-based NetJets Europe flies four 6000s.

A dozen 6000s are registered in the Isle of Man for anonymity, a few are registered in the Cayman Islands.
Four are registered in Austria, three in Switzerland, two in France and Denmark, and one each in Finland, Germany, Ireland and Turkey. Three are registered in China, one in Malaysia and one in Hong Kong.
Two are based in São Paulo, two are in South Africa and one is in India.

Civil

The aircraft is operated by private individuals, companies, executive charter operators and government agencies, including:
 ACM Air Charter, Baden-Baden
 Crystal Luxury Air
 AirAsia 
 FedEx
 Flexjet
 ExecuJet Aviation Group, Zurich
 Netjets, a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary
 Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth through HBD Venture Capital
 TAG Aviation, Switzerland 
 Tiriac Air, Romania 
 Qatar Executive, a business jet subsidiary of Qatar Airways
 VistaJet, Malta
 Jet Story, Poland
 Seven Aviation, Bahrain

Military

Transport 

 
1 Global 5000 VIP, operated by the Angolan armed forces 
 
 1 Global 6000 VIP, operated by the Botswana Air Force
 
 3 Global 5000 for VIP transport operated by the Special Air Mission Wing MoD in Cologne
 3 Global 6000 for VIP transport delivered in late 2019.

 1 Global 6000 VIP, operated by the Royal Malaysian Air Force, assigned to the 2nd Squadron of the 1st Division of the Air Force and is stationed at Kuala Lumpur-Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport.

 1 Global jet ordered for the Mexican Air Force

Military mission 
 
 3 Global 6000, known as Pegasus, for SIGINT missions ordered in 2021, to enter service by 2025 and replace the Eurohawk 
   India
 2 Global 5000 SIGINT aircraft made by Elta, stationed at the Palam Air Force Station in Delhi
  
 1 Global 6000 ordered to be converted to EW, ESM, ECM platform as a successor to the DA-20 Falcon, and to be operated by the Pakistani Air Force
   Sweden
 3 Global 6000 for the GlobalEye AEW&C on order + 1 on option, to be delivered by 2027

 2 Global 6000 to be transformed into Electronic warfare / jamming platforms for the Turkish Air Force, received in March 2019 
  United Arab Emirates
 5 Global 6000 for the GlobalEye AEW&C ordered in 2 tranches
 2 Project Dolphin ELINT aircraft 
  United States
 US Air Force
 7 Global 6000 in service + 4 on order, known as E-11A, used as command and control / battlefield airborne communication node
 US Army
Global 6500 SIGINT / ELINT, successor of the RC-12 Guardrail
1 Global 6500 demonstrator ARES flew in Europe for missions in order to try out the technologies prior to the development of the HADES final variant.

Former operators

 Royal Air Force (June 2007 – March 2021) 
 No. 5 Squadron RAF - 5 (Bombardier airframe modified as Raytheon Sentinel R1 by Raytheon)

Specifications

Accidents and incidents 
As of 27 January 2020, six Global Express have been damaged beyond repair in hull-loss incidents.

See also

References

External links

 
 
 
 

1990s Canadian business aircraft
Global Express
T-tail aircraft
Twinjets
Aircraft first flown in 1996
Low-wing aircraft
Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear