RENO, Nev., Dec. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Aerion Supersonic, the leader in supersonic technology, announced today that GE Aviation has been selected as the Electrical Power Systems provider for its AS2 supersonic business jet.

GE Aviation will design and develop the electrical power system for the AS2. The system includes electrical power generation, distribution, conversion and energy storage.

In 2018, Aerion announced that GE’s Affinity^™, the first civil supersonic engine in 55 years, will power the AS2. The Affinity engine is optimized with GE technology to provide exceptional and balanced performance across supersonic and subsonic flights.

“We are excited to expand our collaboration with Aerion and leverage our extensive electrical power expertise for this state of the art, supersonic AS2 program”, said Brad Mottier, GE Aviation Vice President and General Manager for Business and General Aviation & Integrated Systems.  “Along with the GE Affinity engine, our electrical power system will be designed, integrated, and optimized to deliver outstanding overall system performance for Aerion and its customers.”

The AS2 electrical power system design and initial integration planning work will be conducted at GE’s Electrical Power Integration Centre (EPIC) in Cheltenham, UK, with final integration and procurement at GE’s Electric Power Integrated Systems Center (EPISCenter), the electrical power integration headquarters, located in Dayton, Ohio.

“We conducted an extensive trade study, analyzing several providers and multiple power generation and distribution architectures.” said Aerion CEO Tom Vice. “As a result, we have selected GE Aviation as our partner for the AS2 electrical power system. We are excited to expand our outstanding relationship with GE.” 

Aerion’s AS2 is the first-ever privately built supersonic commercial aircraft. Designed to be inherently environmentally friendly, the AS2 is the first supersonic aircraft with the ability to accept 100 percent synthetic fuel. It is also the first to be designed without an afterburner. The 12 passenger business jet is scheduled to begin flight testing in 2024.

About Aerion Corporation

Aerion, the industry leader in supersonic travel, is pioneering a new generation of efficient, economical, and environmentally responsible supersonic aircraft. The Mach 1.4 AS2 business jet is scheduled to begin flight testing in 2024. Aerion entered into a partnership with Boeing in February 2019 to develop the AS2 and advance the supersonic market. In October 2018, Aerion and GE Aviation unveiled the quiet and efficient GE Affinity^™ engine, the first civil supersonic engine in more than 50 years. More information can be found at www.aerionsupersonic.com.

About GE Aviation

GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE (NYSE: GE), is a world-leading provider of jet and turboprop engines, components and integrated systems for commercial, military, business and general aviation aircraft. GE Aviation has a global service network to support these offerings. For more information, visit us at www.ge.com/aviation. Follow GE Aviation on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GEAviation and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/GEAviation.

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SOURCE Aerion