GE’s new engine brings supersonic private jets closer to reality

At a press conference with Aerion Corporation, GE Aviation has announced it has completed the initial design of the first supersonic engine purpose-built for business jets.

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Michael Tyrrell

Digital Coordinator October 17, 2018O

This new engine class, revealed as GE’s Affinity turbofan, is optimised with proven GE technology for supersonic flight and timed to meet the Aerion AS2 launch.

The Affinity is a new class of medium bypass ratio engines that provide exceptional and balanced performance across supersonic and subsonic flights. The Affinity integrates a blend of proven military supersonic experience, commercial reliability and the most advanced business jet engine technologies.

GE’s Affinity is a twin-shaft, twin-fan turbofan controlled by a next generation Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) for enhanced dispatch reliability and onboard diagnostics. It is purposefully designed to enable efficient supersonic flight over water and efficient subsonic flight over land, without requiring modifications to existing compliance regulations. The engine is designed to meet stringent Stage 5 subsonic noise requirements and beat current emissions standards.

Affinity will power the Aerion AS2 supersonic business jet with first flight in 2023

“In the last 50 years, business aircraft speeds have increased by less than 10%,” said Brad Mottier, GE vice president and general manager for Business and General Aviation & Integrated Services. “Instead of going faster, cabins have increased in size and become more comfortable – and range has become longer. With large, comfortable cabin, long range aircraft in the marketplace, the next step is speed, made possible with GE’s Affinity.”

After two years of a preliminary study, GE Aviation and Aerion launched a formal process in May of 2017 to define and evaluate a final engine configuration for the AS2 supersonic business jet. A GE Project team, supported by a dedicated Engineering team, continue to work with Aerion in a formal and gated process. The next design review is targeted for 2020, signaling the beginning of detailed design and test article production.

Aerion is collaborating with GE Aviation, Lockheed Martin and Honeywell to develop the AS2.