Although few details are available about Dassault’s super-midsize SMS Falcon, the company is aiming for certification in 2016, according to Olivier Villa, senior vice president for civil aircraft. When the twin-engine SMS was launched in January 2008 it was slated to be powered by the Rolls-Royce RB282. That decision was reversed last year and now the Silvercrest engine being developed by France’s Snecma group is a likely frontrunner.
Although the program is ramping up to full-speed development, Villa remained coy about SMS details and industry partners. In late November, Canada’s Héroux-Devtek announced that it signed a contract to “design, develop, fabricate, assemble, qualify and participate in the certification of the landing gear and actuation system for the new aircraft,” which presumably is the SMS. Villa said Dassault will likely not release much further information about the project for two to three years.