Putin wants Russian civilian air travel to go supersonic once again

KAZAN, Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin has backed the idea of a domestically-built supersonic passenger aircraft based on the “brilliant” Tu-160 strategic bomber recently developed for the military. “We now need to go back to supersonic passenger travel. We should think about it,” Putin told the public as he visited the city of Kazan on Tuesday, reports Russia Today.

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The Intelligent Aerospace take:

February 12, 2019- Commercial supersonic travel seems to be back as a concept in a big way as Russia joins the scene with the state-run Russia Today reporting on its country's president touting the success of the Tu-160 supersonic bomber and the possibility its technology could be developed into a civilian version.

The United States' NASA is working in concert with manufacturers to produce a "low boom" supersonic jet suitable for commercial use. The X-59 jet is tentatively scheduled to take to the skies in 2021 and should have a sonic boom that sounds to people on the ground roughly like a car door closing.

With President Putin floating the idea publicly, and the state-run media reporting on it, it seems likely that Russia will jump into the commercial supersonic air travel arena at some point. The Soviet Union briefly flew the Tu-144 for just a year before it was deemed economically unfeasible.

Related: Collins to provide avionics for NASA's supersonic X-59

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Related: A new engine could bring back supersonic air-travel

Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace

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