Lockheed Martin will build a prototype of a "quiet" supersonic aircraft

The US National Directorate for Cosmic Space (NASA) signed a contract for designing, building and conducting the first demonstrator of the “quiet” “Supreme Passenger aircraft, on the project of which Lockheed Martin began to work two years ago as part of the Quesst project.

As N+1 explains, now the flights of supersonic aircraft over the settlements are prohibited, because on the glider of such aircraft at supersonic speed, shock waves are formed, which are perceived by observers on Earth as an explosion. The QUSST project involves the development of an airplane with a planner of such an aerodynamic structure, in which a small number of shock waves of lower intensity will form on the surface of the aircraft, which will lead to a decrease in the noise level.

The contract in the amount of 247.5 million dollars suggests that the first flight tests of the apparatus should be held in 2021, but can be shifted in mid -2022. The demonstrator of a 28.7 meter -long airplane technology will be performed by a single -engine. He will receive a glider, the fuselage and the wing of which will outwardly resemble an inverted plane. At the same time, ordinary vertical keel and horizontal steering rudders will be installed on the prototype at low flight speed.

It is assumed that in the future, a new passenger plane will be able to perform cruising flights at an altitude of 16.8 km at a speed of 1.5 thousand km/h. At the same time, the perceived noise level from such aircraft on the ground should not exceed 75 decibels, which corresponds to the cotton of the car door.

The development of a “quiet” supersonic airliner is part of the NASA program called New Aviation Horizons, in which it is planned to reduce the consumption of fuel aircraft, as well as a decrease in emissions and noise levels.