Unveiled on 22nd October 2019, the `Pearl 700` is the newest member in the Rolls-Royce business jet propulsion engine family of `Pearl` introduced in 2018 and marks the seventh new civil aerospace engine introduced by Rolls-Royce over the past decade. The `Pearl 700`, which is the most powerful one so far within the family will be exclusively used in the new flagship of Gulfstream; `G700` aircraft.
Gulfstream has announced its new flagship, the `G700` on the eve of the October 2019 NBAA Convention & Exhibition in Las Vegas. The aircraft boasts the tallest, widest and longest cabin in the industry that can accommodate up to five areas and has 20 windows. Additionally, it can achieve high performance capabilities in terms of range and speed, thanks to its Rolls-Royce `Pearl 700` engines along with newly designed Gulfstream winglets. The G700 can fly 7,500 nautical miles/13,890 kilometers at Mach 0.85 or 6,400 nautical miles/11,853 kilometers at Mach 0.90. The aircraft should make its first flight in the first half of 2020 and customer deliveries should start in 2022 with a price tag of $75 million.
The previous flagships of Gulfstream family G650 & G650ER (Extended Range) were using `BR725` engines with 75.2 kN (16.900 lb) of maximum thrust. The new `Pearl 700` engine combines the most efficient engine core available across the business aviation sector with a brand-new low-pressure system, resulting in an 8% increase in take-off thrust at 81.2 kN (18,250 lb) compared to the `BR725` engine. The engine also offers a 12% better thrust-to-weight ratio and 5% higher efficiency, while maintaining its class-leading low noise and emissions performance. This results to an engine that is highly efficient, but also is able to propel customers nearly as fast as the speed of sound.
As an important supplier in the engine program, `Liebherr-Aerospace` has been selected to supply the pneumatic component package including both the pneumatic valves and the actuation devices that control pneumatic power around the engine. These parts, meeting the lightweight, high-reliability requirements of the Pearl 700 engine program, are designed, manufactured and serviced by Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse SAS, Toulouse (France).
In 2015, both companies established a 50:50 joint venture called Aerospace Transmission Technologies GmbH, which is based in Friedrichshafen (Germany) and develops manufacturing capability and capacity for the power gearbox for Rolls Royce’s new `UltraFan` engines. The previous contract in the relationship of two companies was in 2017 and it was the selection of Liebherr-Aerospace for the design, manufacture and service of a key pneumatic component, the high-pressure non-return valve, for the Trent 7000 engines of Rolls-Royce, which exclusively power the Airbus A330neo aircrafts.