The United States Air Force Wants A Supersonic Plane

Tehnologijaviews
1 min readSep 16, 2021

A high-speed aviation startup has landed a major contract with the United States Air Force for the development of reusable hypersonic aircraft, and it could lead to significantly faster air travel for civilians. Hermeus, an aircraft development company based in Doraville, Georgia, earned $ 60 million to develop three prototypes of hypersonic technology. The company also has plans for bigger and better airplanes.

If successful, Hermeus could finally snatch the crown from the world’s fastest aircraft from the SR-71 Blackbird.

The Executive and Presidential Air Transport Directorate of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) jointly presented the award to Hermeus in July, according to a press release.

The award will fund an “increased understanding of enabling technologies and mission capabilities for reusable hypersonic aircraft.”

The SR-71 Blackbird currently holds the record for the fastest jet aircraft, with a record speed of 2,193 miles per hour (3,529 km/h).

If successful, Quarterhorse would fly at approximately 3,836 miles per hour (6173 km/h). That’s fast enough to get from New York to Paris in just 90 minutes.

Originally published at https://www.tehnologijaviews.xyz.

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