Dassault Aviation Falcon orders nearly triple in H1 as 10X takes first flight
Dassault reaffirmed its full-year 2026 guidance of net sales in the range of €8.5bn, including the delivery of 40 Falcon and 28 Rafale.
Dassault Aviation’s Falcon business jet division had a standout first half of 2026, with orders nearly tripling year-on-year and the flagship Falcon 10X completing its maiden flight.
Falcon order intake reached €1.8bn ($2.05bn) in H1 2026, up sharply from €903m in the same period last year, driven by increased demand for new aircraft.
The company booked 23 Falcon orders in the half, compared with just eight in H1 2025. Deliveries edged up to 13 aircraft from 12 in the prior-year period. The Falcon backlog grew to €5.4bn as of June 30, 2026, up from €4.7bn at the end of 2025 and now comprising 83 aircraft, compared with 73 six months earlier.
Falcon net sales for the half year amounted to €1.2bn, up from €1.1bn in H1 2025, representing 29% of total adjusted net sales.
The most significant milestone for the Falcon programme in the half was the maiden flight of the Falcon 10X on June 19, 2026, launching the aircraft’s formal flight test campaign.
Entry into service is now scheduled for 2029, following a rescheduling of the programme.
To support the 10X flight test programme, Dassault is renovating part of the airfield pavements at its Istres facility in Southern France to accommodate the aircraft. Development costs related to the Falcon 10X accounted for the majority of the €131m in self-funded R&D expenditure in H1 2026, down from €182m in H1 2025 as the programme moves from development into testing.
The French aerospace manufacturer said it is deepening its industrial footprint in India with several partnerships that directly support Falcon production.
DRAL, the company’s Indian joint venture, is primarily focused on Falcon components, and a new DRAL production building currently under construction is expected to be operational by summer 2027, doubling the facility’s production floor area.
Bangalore-based Dynamatic is producing the rear fuselage section of the Falcon 6X. These partnerships form part of Dassault’s broader Make in India commitment, which has gained further momentum following India’s Defence Acquisition Council entering direct negotiations for the acquisition of 114 Rafale.
Full year guidance maintained
Dassault reaffirmed its full-year 2026 guidance of net sales in the range of €8.5bn, including the delivery of 40 Falcon and 28 Rafale. With 13 Falcon delivered in H1, the company has the second half to deliver the remaining 27 aircraft to meet its full-year target – a back-end weighted delivery schedule that is consistent with Dassault’s historical pattern.
Chairman and CEO Éric Trappier noted that the military and geopolitical context, marked by the crisis in the Gulf and the war in Ukraine, remains the backdrop against which Dassault is operating.
However, for the Falcon business specifically, the first half demonstrated a meaningful recovery in order momentum and the successful launch of what will be the company’s largest and most capable business jet to date.
