Supersonic air travel has been off the table for almost 20 years, but it could be making a comeback thanks to a US military contract. The Air Force has just awarded a $60 million grant to Colorado-based Boom Supersonic to support its airliner development. When complete, the company’s Overture aircraft could carry dozens of passengers at speeds up to Mach 1.7.
The three-year contract under the military’s Strategic Funding Increase (or STRATFI) program will help Boom turn its engineering concept into reality. Ars Technica reports the company recently tapped Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina as the manufacturing site of its first full-scale Overture aircraft. Currently, Boom hopes to begin construction in 2024, with the first airplane hitting the runway in 2025. However, the first flight is not expected until 2026, and it might take until the end of the decade before passengers get to board an Overture.
This won’t be a quantity over quality project for Boom. The 65-88 passengers aboard a hypothetical Overture would get first-class experience with direct aisle access and ample leg room. Concept renders also show huge windows and equally expansive integrated screens at each seat. Boom further claims the vehicle will be 100 percent carbon-neutral once it’s up and running thanks to sustainable fuels.
You may be wondering why the US military is interested in supporting the development of a passenger airliner when it already has supersonic aircraft. You need only look at what Boom wants to build: a 205-foot aircraft that flies at 1,300 miles per hour with a range of almost 5,000 miles.
The military regularly buys civilian vehicles for transportation and logistics, and the Overture could be of great use. After all, at the end of the day it’s a supersonic airliner capable of delivering whatever you want anyplace in the world within eight hours. “With STRATFI, we’re able to collaborate with the Air Force on the unique requirements and needs for global military missions, ultimately allowing Boom to better satisfy the needs of the Air Force where it uses commercially derived aircraft,” CEO Blake Scholl said in a press release.
Travelers last had the option of taking a supersonic flight in 2003 when the Concorde was retired. British Airways and Air France began operating the planes in 1976, but high costs and a tragic crash in 2000 led to its grounding. The Overture could eventually fill that niche, but don’t start packing your bags just yet.
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