Boom Supersonic has unveiled a new design for its future Overture jet at Farnborough Airshow 2022.
The proposed supersonic aircraft type now features four engines, a new fuselage and wing shape. Its cabin is thicker in the front section and gets skinnier towards the back. Boom founder and CEO Blake Scholl calls the new design a “refinement”, created after five years of design and simulation work based on the previous Overture concept.
The startup further announced partnerships with three aerospace suppliers: Collins Aerospace, Eaton and Safran. Some electrical and mechanical systems, including the fuel system will be supplied by Eaton, while Safran will design, develop and manufacture the landing gear of the aircraft. Blake Scholl says that there will be more cooperation announcements with Safran in the future.
Overture is designed for 65 passengers or more, making it smaller than Concorde, which retired in 2003. There are no afterburners on Overture, to make the aircraft both quieter and more efficient. However, Boom is yet to outline details on the propulsion system. The list price is set at 200 million US Dollars, according to Scholl. The program will cost billions before Overture will even take off, with 600 million Dollars raised so far, the CEO says.
In addition to the commercial version, Boom will be working together with defense company Northrop Grumman for a military version of the supersonic aircraft.
Boom’s much smaller XB-1 aircraft, which is supposed to test supersonic technologies for the development of Overture, just performed its first brake test and is set to carry out its first taxiing tests on Wednesday, 20th July, the company says. However, Scholl stressed that development focus has shifted more to Overture.
Jakob Wert is an aviation journalist from Germany. He built up the website IFN.news and is the Editor-In-Chief of International Flight Network.
