Airbus pits TwoTwenty against business jets like Global 7500

Five months after launching its ACJ Two Twenty executive jet, Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ) is talking up the performance of its modified A220-100, pitching the type as competitive in two segments of the business aircraft market.

Thanks to range and cabin size, the Two Twenty appeals to buyers of both “bizliners” – passenger aircraft modified into executive transports – and traditional large-cabin business jets like Bombardier Global 7500s and Gulfstream G700s, say Airbus executives.

“With this product, we are entering a market that is much, much bigger,” says Airbus ACJ vice-president of commercial Stan Shparberg . “We are offering a different flying experience.”

 He notes that while the market for executive-modified passenger jets is somewhat limited, with only about 400 of those aircraft in service, the large-cabin segment is much bigger, with some 2,200 jets flying.

Airbus is playing up the size of the Two Twenty’s cabin, which, at 73sq m (786sq ft), is up to three times larger than cabins of traditional long-range business jets, executives say.

The Two Twenty costs one-third less to operate than such types, they add.

US Navy looks at manned-unmanned teaming role for E-2D Advanced

“There is going to be a control centre on the carrier for our unmanned air vehicles,” said Vice Admiral James Kilby, deputy chief of naval operations for warfighting requirements and capabilities, in testimony before the US House Armed Services Committee on 18 March. “But, ultimately, in the future, let’s say there’s a fueling area for a strike [aircraft] or some other mission area, it’d be great if a manned pilot saw weather and we could divert and move that [UAV] and not have to go to the carrier to do that control.”

The unmanned MQ-25A tanker is intended to extend the reach of the Lockheed Martin F-35C, which has an unrefuelled range of about 1,200nm (2,200km) – not long enough to keep US aircraft carriers outside of the striking distance of China’s land-based ballistic and cruise missiles.