By Ankit Ajmera

Gulfstream Aerospace Corp, a unit of General Dynamics Corp, said it had launched two new business jets, the G500 and G600, and signed agreements for orders of up to 70 aircraft from Flexjet LLC and Qatar Airways.

Dallas-based Flexjet LLC, a provider of fractional jet ownership and leasing services, will order up to 50 aircraft, including the 16-seater G450, the wide-cabin G500 and the flagship G650, Gulfstream said.

Qatar Airways, the state-owned flag carrier of Qatar, will order up to 20 Gulfstream aircraft, including the newly launched G500 and the G650ER.

Gulfstream said the new G500 and G600 aircraft would be made at its plants in Savannah, Georgia. The company said it would also produce the wings and vertical and horizontal stabilisers for both aircraft.

Gulfstream's move to swap out a couple of major suppliers and manufacture wings at its own plants is likely to reduce the company's risk, RBC Capital Markets analysts Robert Stallard wrote in a note.

Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc is the wing supplier for Gulfstream's G650 and G280 jets, while Triumph Group Inc supplies wings for the company's G450 and G550 jets.

"Spirit continues to produce wings for Gulfstream products. Our workscope with them remains unchanged," a Gulfstream spokeswoman told Reuters in an email.

Spirit recorded a loss of nearly $531 million from the Gulfstream program as of Dec. 31, 2013 and has been trying to sell the Tulsa, Oklahoma plant at which it makes wings for Gulfstream's jets.

Spirit and Gulfstream are in a dispute over unpaid dues, with an arbitration set to be heard next January.

Spirit claims Gulfstream owes it about $135 million for the G650 programme for deliveries from 2010 through the end of the third quarter of 2013.

The G500's first flight is scheduled for 2015, Gulfstream said. The 18-seater G600 is projected to enter service in 2019.

General Dynamics' shares were up about 0.6 percent at $119.01 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Up to Monday's close, the stock had risen about 24 percent this year, compared with a 1.43 percent rise in the S&P 500 Index.