American operation. The company also purchased the Wiener Neustadt East Airport in that same year. The firm continued to work on multiple new aircraft types in order to further grow its product line; these were developed in line with a company-wide philosophy of seeking to offer aircraft that lacked any equivalent in terms of performance to any existing major product being produced from any of its competing manufacturers; this was a measure to consciously avoid instances of direct head-to-head competition. In 1997, the Diamond DA40 a four-place IFR aircraft, received certification; it was followed by the twin diesel engine DA42 in 2004. According to Flight International, the DA40 was capable of outperforming many similar aircraft which at that time had carried substantially greater purchase costs than the DA40 outfitted with a basic configuration. When launched in 2001, the DA40TDI was the first production aircraft powered by a single diesel-based piston engine. 2000s In 2002, a new programme to develop an aircraft equipped with twin diesel engines, the Diamond DA42 Twin Star, was launched. During May 2004, the DA42 received certification. Even prior to its introduction to service, a heavy order book for the DA42 had already been accumulated, and plans had been mooted for the development of a dedicated unmanned air vehicle (UAV) platform based upon the type. This would be introduced as the Aeronautics Defense Dominator, a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which was used for aerial surveillance duties. In 2003, Diamond announced the launch of its light jet program, known as the Diamond D-Jet. This five-seat single engine jet aircraft was marketed towards the emergent very light jet market, and was considered to be a major diversification for the company. Nonetheless, Feinig was confident on the prospective demand for the type, forecasting that around 15 per cent of demand for the D-Jet would come from existing Diamond customers. Development of the D-Jet, unlike the majority of the company's programs, would be protracted as a result of numerous factors, of both a technical and fiscal nature. Speaking in 2004, Feinig stated of the company's ambition "Our vision is to be number one manufacturer of propeller-driven single and twins... and we aim to hold that position within five years". During 2001, aircraft deliveries totalled 176; during 2003, deliveries had risen to 263. In 2004, deliveries were forecast to climb as high as 850 aircraft per year in 2008.