Dassault’s Falcon 5X takes first test flight

Dassault Aviation’s newest aircraft, the Falcon 5X, made its maiden flight Wednesday, the first in a limited number of preliminary flight tests before beginning full-fledged flight testing in 2018.

The twin-engine longrange business jet will be built in France by Dassault Aviation and ferried to the completion center of its U.S. subsidiary, Dassault Falcon Jet, at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field, where custom interiors are installed and exteriors painted. The jet is expected to enter service in 2020.

Dassault Falcon Jet announced in May that the company would reduce its worldwide workforce by 6 percent. Dassault declined to confirm how many employees at the Little Rock completion center would be affected. Dassault has employed as many as 1,800 workers at the facility.