Supersonic business jet can have flight range up to 8,000 km

The supersonic business jet (SBJ) under development can fly to the distance up to 8,000 km, Tupolev Company, an affiliate of the United Aircraft Corporation, said in its annual report.

"SBJ is developed for the purpose of quick delivery of passengers at a supersonic speed up to Mach 2 to the distance up to 8,000 km, predominantly for business executives, high level government officials and everybody who sees the time as the absolute priority," the report says. "The suggested SBJ layout should have a lowered level of the sonic boom with the following preliminary characteristics: the airplane can fly with the speed of about 2,000 km per hour at the 11-km altitude; the airplane takeoff weight will be about 70 and the seating capacity — about 30," the company said.

The speed from Mach 1 to Mach 5 is considered to be supersonic. For comparison, a modern Airbus A350 jet has the maximum speed of 0.89 M (945 km per hour at 12,190 m altitude).

The terms of reference for the demo airplane and the demo aircraft should be developed in 2020-2022 in the best case scenario, Tupolev said. Full-scale surveys are to be completed at the same time. Conceptual and detail design of the airplane are planned from 2022 to 2026.

The Zhukovsky Institute research center will develop the concept and the program for the supersonic passenger jet in Russia by 2021 year-end, TASS reported earlier. The company made the relevant contract with the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade on June 3, according to papers on the government procurements website.

The contract price is 213 mln rubles ($3.1 mln for this year) and 504.7 mln rubles ($7.25 mln) for 2021. According to the terms of reference, proposals on the preliminary outline and dimensions of the supersonic aircraft and the list of critical technologies for its development, including noise reduction and fuel efficiency improvement measures, will be prepared by December 15, 2021. The cost of research and development work under the project, production and operation of the supersonic jet will be assessed and its market prospects will be reviewed.

Russia plans to develop a supersonic jet with a limited seating capacity and the speed up to Mach 1.6-1.8 at the initial stage and then move on to the development of faster airplanes with the seating capacity of 30-50 passengers and the speed up to Mach 2.