Russia Begins Building Prototype of Supersonic Airliner

Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has commenced building the prototype of a supersonic civilian airliner, the successor to the legendary Tu-144 that flew for the first time in 1968 but was abandoned after a crash during the 1971 Paris Air Show.

In response to a question from TASS regarding the supersonic airliner project, UAC Chief, Vadim Badekha  said yesterday, “such work is underway at the Zhukovsky National Research Center, and we're actively supporting it. It's no longer just on paper, but in hardware. A prototype of such an aircraft is underway, and we believe the Zhukovsky National Research Center will be successful in this endeavor."

The  disclosure underpins the fact that the Russian aeronautical industry has not abandoned its wish to stay ahead in the aviation race despite the pressures of the Ukraine war combined with Western sanctions that has denied it crucial inputs such as advanced electronics.

Supersonic airliners such as the now abandoned Tu-144 and the Franco-British Concorde flew at a speed of Mach 2.04 (2,180 km/h) reducing travel time between long haul destinations by nearly half. Current passenger airliners’ top seed, such as that of the Boeing 777, is around 900 km/h where priority is given to comfort and fuel economy rather than outright speed.

Will the supersonic airliner be developed alongside the PAK-DA bomber?

Recent leaked documents say that the PAK-DA (Prospective Aviation Complex for Long-Range Aviation), codenamed “Poslannik”, is being developed by Tupolev and may fly within the next 2-3 years. Contracts have been given by Tupolev to another Russian company, OKBM to develop key components of the PAK-D

The civilian airliner could borrow design and development resources from the PAK-DA project.

Nothing much is known about the proposed Russian supersonic airliner project; no scale models or probable engines have been talked about in the media.

The impetus to get back in to the supersonic airliner project may have come from the intense R & D that the Russian industry embarked upon following sanctions imposed after the Ukraine war.

New engine projects, modern manufacturing systems besides rapid design and prototyping developed in response to the sanctions, many have optimized cost and resources to add another aviation project to its portfolio- albeit its most ambitious so far.

Development of fifth generation aircraft such as as the Su-57 and the PAK-DA have given the UAC an insight into developing designs for high speed aircraft.