GE Aviation & Aerion Present Affinity Supersonic Engine For Business Jets

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Aerion is working with GE Aviation, Lockheed Martin, and Honeywell on the AS2, a 12-passenger supersonic business jet scheduled for 2025 certification that Aerion says will shave as much as three hours off transatlantic flights and as much as five off of transpacific flights. (Photo courtesy of GE Aviation.)

Aerion’s AS2 supersonic business jet is scheduled to first fly in 2023. When it does, it will sport new GE Affinity turbofan engines, which Aeron and GE recently unveiled as the “first civil supersonic engine in 55 years.” Aerion Supersonic is working with GE Aviation, Lockheed Martin, and Honeywell on the AS2, the “world’s first supersonic business jet.” Aerion says the 12-passenger, Mach 1.4 AS2 will fly up to 60% faster than current civil jets and cut up to three hours off transatlantic flights and up to five hours off transpacific flights. Aerion is shooting for a 2025 certification for the AS2.

Development Details

GE Aviation and Aerion spent two years in preliminary study before launching a formal process in spring 2017 to define and evaluate the engine’s final configuration. The engine’s next design review is scheduled for 2020. That phase will signal the start of detailed design and test article production. The companies describe the Affinity as a “new class of medium bypass ratio engines that provide exceptional and balanced performance across supersonic and subsonic flights.” Further, the engine “integrates a unique blend of proven military supersonic experience, commercial reliability, and the most advanced business jet engine technologies,” they say.

A next-generation FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) will control the twin-shaft, twin-fan Affinity, which the companies say is designed to support “efficient supersonic flight over water and efficient subsonic flight over land” without modifications required to existing compliance regulations. The companies also say the engine features design elements that help it meet Stage 5 subsonic noise requirements and surpass current emissions standards.

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GE Aviation and Aerion describe the new GE Affinity turbofan engine that Aerion’s AS2 supersonic jet will use as the “first supersonic engine purpose-built for business jets” and the “first civil supersonic engine in 55 years.” (Photo courtesy of GE Aviation.)

Affinity Up Close

Among the Affinity’s features is a high-altitude 60,000-foot (18,288-meter) service ceiling, the highest bypass ratio of any supersonic engine, a special non-augmented supersonic exhaust system, an engine core adapted from GE’s commercial airline portfolio, and GE’s additive design and manufacturing technologies that optimize weight and performance. “In the last 50 years, business aircraft speeds have increased by less than 10%,” says Brad Mottier, GE vice president. “Instead of going faster, cabins have increased in size and become more comfortable, and range has become longer.” The next step, he says, “is speed,” which the Affinity makes possible.

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Source: GE Aviation

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