China joins supersonic race with plans for Concorde-beating jet
Engineers from the country's state-owned aircraft manufacturer, Comac, revealed blueprints for the new plane in an academic paper published earlier this month.
The aircraft will be able to fly 1.6 times faster than the speed of sound and travel distances of up to 11,000km, or 6,800 miles, at a time. The range would allow the plane to fly from Britain to Malaysia non-stop, and is well above Concorde's maximum range of around 4,500 miles.
China's C949 jet is also set to be much quieter than Concorde, with sonic booms of 89.3 decibels compared to the Anglo-French jet's thunderous 105.
The shape of C949's 'reverse-camber' fuselage is set to dampen the shock waves caused by the surrounding air travelling faster than the speed of sound, which creates loud booms that can be heard nearby. Concorde's own sonic booms saw it blocked from taking overland flights following noise complaints.
The Chinese craft is designed to hold 168 passengers, more than the 128 maximum capacity of the Concorde. C949 will be slower than its predecessor, however. Concorde reached top speeds of Mach-2.2, equivalent to 2,154 km per hour or 1,338 miles per hour, meaning it could fly from London to New York in less than three hours. C949's top speed will be Mach 1.6.
The Chinese plans are part of a wave of interest in reviving commercial supersonic air travel, which ended with the retirement of the Concorde in 2003 following a catastrophic crash at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport three years earlier that killed 113 people.
Several start-ups are vying for the title of 'heir to the Concorde', with most based in the US.
Boom Supersonic, which is based in Denver, Colorado, successfully launched a test flight of its prototype XB-1 supersonic passenger jet in January. The plane successfully broke the sound barrier, reaching speeds of 850 miles per hour during three separate flights over the Mojave Desert.
Spike Aerospace, which is based in Boston, Massachusetts, is separately working on plans for its own 1.6-Mach passenger plane that it also expects will be quieter than Concorde.
Meanwhile, Nasa and Lockheed Martin have joined forces to develop a one-person jet that is capable of travelling 1.4-Mach while making a sonic boom of just 75 decibels.
Blake Scholl, Boom Supersonic's chief executive, said in a tweet over the weekend: 'A'ight folks, it's no surprise, but China has now officially entered the supersonic race. Game on. Let's beat 'em.'
Beijing's pursuit of supersonic jet technology is likely to raise concerns about the potential for dual-use of the technology for military purposes.
Comac was first started by the Chinese government in 2008. It is currently subject to sanctions from the US government over its links to the People's Liberation Army.
In January, Beijing-based Sichuan Lingkong Tianxing Technology outlined plans for a supersonic drone able to travel at Mach-4, equivalent to 4,900km per hour, or 3,045 miles per hour.
The Chinese drone is set to be called Cuantianhou, a name given to the Monkey King in Chinese mythology.
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