Supersonic

After a 20-year hiatus, the return of commercial supersonic flight is another step closer after Boom Supersonic announced that its prototype faster-than-sound jet has undergone ground tests and won an experimental airworthiness certificate from the US FAA.

At this year's Paris Air Show, Boom Supersonic announced a raft of new supplier agreements that reveal technical specifications for the company's planned Overture supersonic commercial airliner and its custom Symphony engine.

Meet the X-66A, NASA's Sustainable Flight Demonstrator full-scale single-aisle research plane, featuring transonic truss-braced wings and designed to explore net-zero aviation emissions and more economical passenger flight near the speed of sound.

NASA this week marked the 50th anniversary of the total ban of civilian supersonic flights over the US. The milestone comes as the agency continues development of the X-59 experimental supersonic aircraft intended to reintroduce civilian Mach+ service.

This remarkable anti-ship weapon would run an innovative boron-powered ramjet engine that works in both air and water. Supersonic in the air and supercavitating under the water, it could strike farther and faster than any conventional torpedo.

The future of civilian commercial supersonic travel looks a bit firmer today after American Airlines and Boom Supersonic signed an agreement for the airline to put down a non-returnable deposit towards the purchase of 20 Overture supersonic aircraft.

Military variants of a civilian supersonic airliner are already on the cards after Northrop Grumman and Boom Supersonic signed an agreement at the Farnborough Air Show to develop special quick-reaction mission variants of Boom’s Overture aircraft.

Exosonic has been awarded a contract by the US Air Force to develop a low-boom supersonic drone that will be used to provide combat training for pilots as well as demonstrate cutting-edge supersonic aircraft technology.

At the Langley Research Center in Virginia, NASA has completed testing of the eXternal Vision System (XVS) 4K video screen that will take the place of the forward flight deck window for its X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft.

South Africa's Priven Reddy has come out with some outrageous claims about his new supersonic zero-carbon VTOL airline business – so outrageous that we think you'll enjoy learning all about them.

There are more than a few ifs, buts and maybes hanging over the development of Boom's Overture supersonic airliner, but if the company can jump through the necessary hoops United Airlines will be ready to grab a slice of the action.

In a NATO exercise off the coasts of Scotland and Norway involving more than 3,000 military personnel, the Royal Navy has used artificial intelligence to help counter live-fire supersonic missile attacks in sea trials for the first time.