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Rival to the Concorde: Russian supersonic passenger jet can enter production in 2030-2031

Director of the Central Aero-hydrodynamic Institute Kirill Sypalo said that the aircraft will allow to reduce the time of transporting passengers and cargo to remote distances

MOSCOW, October 1. /TASS/. A Russian serially produced supersonic passenger jet can be ready by 2030-2031, General Manager of the Russian Central Aero-Hydrodynamic Institute Kirill Sypalo said on Monday.

"It will take 10-15 years more [from prototypes development in 2020-2021 - TASS] until reaching a serially produced jet capable of carrying passengers across Russia at the least," the expert said.

Supersonic research is being carried out within the framework of international consortium and as part of domestic developments under contracts with the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, Sypalo said. "The principal task today’s supersonic aviation faces is making the aircraft <...> cheap and <...> safe," he noted.

It was reported earlier that the Russian United Aircraft Corporation is developing a supersonic passenger jet, where knowhow from the Tu-160 strategic bomber can be used. The company is also engaged in developing a 25-seat supersonic business jet, Deputy CEO for R&D Valery Solozobov told TASS earlier.

Domestic and international supersonic jets

The first attempts to develop a supersonic passenger jet were made in Europe and the United States as far back as the late 1950s. The USSR started developing such an aircraft in the early 1960s. Only two projects made their way to large-scale production and commercial use - the Soviet Tu-144 and the French-British Concorde.