Russian President Vladimir Putin said the country needs to return to supersonic passenger service and proposed considering building a corresponding jet.
Interestingly, the announcement was made during the president’s meeting with public representatives involved in the implementation of the Housing and Urban Environment national project. Russia’s Zhukovsky Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute and other research organization are already taking efforts to create a supersonic passenger jet demonstrator. The investments in the project are estimated at over RUR 1.3 bln ($19.8 mio).
Previously, Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said the technical requirements for the demonstrator will be ready with the next two or three years.
The world’s first and supersonic passenger airliner, Tu-144, was built in the Soviet Union in the late 1960s and its maiden flight took place in 1968. The aircraft boasted the speed exceeding 2000 km/h (as opposed to other regular aircraft’s speed of 800/900 km/h). Tu-144 was in passenger service until 1978 and was withdrawn from use due to unprofitability. The world’s second supersonic jet was British-French passenger airliner Concorde, which was taken out of service in 2003 for the same reason, when the fuel price hike rendered its use unprofitable.