Rockwell Collins’ Pro Line Fusion next-gen avionics system has earned FAA TSO approval, the first and biggest step toward putting it in the cockpits of new bizjets. The system represents a huge leap for Collins, which has in Fusion created a scalable, fully digital upgradable suite that is certain to be the basis for numerous future products. Plans are for the suite to be offered in a number of emerging bizjet designs, including Bombardier’s Global Express XRS/Bombardier Global 5000 and Learjet 85, the Embraer Legacy 450 and 500, and the Gulfstream G250, among others.
One of the biggest selling points of the system is that it is designed to fit in a wide variety of business aircraft. One of the most noteworthy is Embraer’s emerging mid-sized jets, the Legacy 450 and 500. These clean-sheet fly-by-wire models will boast envelope protection and head-up guidance systems, the latter through Rockwell Collins’ Fusion companion product, the HGS-3500, which Collins launched just last week. (See our announcement on that story.) The system is intended to compete at the high end against Honeywell’s formidable Primus Epic suites and at the lower end against Garmin’s emerging G5000 touchscreen suite, which is slated for initial certification in Cessna’s newly redesigned Citation Ten.
