/ world today news/ In the relatively near future, a civilian supersonic aircraft may appear in Russia. At the same time, in the history of our country, similar aircraft have already been created, but due to uneconomical engines, they were taken out of production and operation. How can the problem of efficiency of such aircraft be solved and what will the new generation of supersonic aircraft be?
On Wednesday, Russian Transport Minister Vitaly Saveliev said that Russia, with its vast expanses, cannot do without supersonic civil aviation. He recalled that the country has experience in such developments – the Tu-144 was “ahead of its time”. According to him, today Russia has the know-how to create such an aircraft on a new technological basis.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly spoken about the need to create a supersonic passenger plane. “Now we have to go back to supersonic passenger traffic. We have to think about it,” the president said back in 2019 at a meeting with members of the public in Kazan, which is known for its aviation industrial complex.
The head of state recalled the modernization of the Tu-160 supersonic missile carrier for the armed forces in Kazan. “Everything works like clockwork. So why not create a supersonic passenger plane?” Putin remarked.
The fact that the development of a civilian supersonic aircraft began in Russia became known in 2018. As reported by the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), the work on the project may use technologies used in the Tu-160.
The world’s first supersonic passenger aircraft, the Tu-144, was developed in the 1960s by the Andrey Tupolev Design Bureau. Commercial operation of the aircraft began in 1975 and ended in 1978.
Tu-144 aircraft were removed from passenger flights due to low efficiency. The maximum flight range reached four thousand kilometers, so the plane needed alternative airports for refueling. The last flight was in June 1999.
The second supersonic airliner in history was the Concorde, which operated from 1976 to 2003. In July 2000, the Concorde crashed near Paris. This was the only crash of this aircraft, but it marked the end of the era of supersonic passenger aviation.
As experts note, civil air transport with supersonic aircraft may once again return to the market. However, this will require solving several problems, the main of which is the creation of a special engine. The basis for development, according to experts, can be the engine of the second stage (“Product 30”), which will begin to be equipped on the Su-57 military fighters within the current batch.
“A flight from the European part of Russia to the Far East is comparable in length to a flight to America across the ocean. Flying for nine hours is very tiring, especially when there are technologies that can cut this time almost in half,” says Roman Gusarov, editor-in-chief of the Avia.ru portal.
The expert emphasized that it was the USSR that pioneered the creation of supersonic aircraft. “Russia, as the legal successor of the Soviet Union, has very good developments. I know that we are currently developing such an aircraft. The flight of a demonstrator aircraft is planned for the next two years. It will be a kind of smaller version of the future civilian supersonic aircraft, on which it will be possible to develop manufacturing technologies and aerodynamic design,” the source said.
One of the pitfalls will be engine development. “This engine is significantly more complex than the engines used by the military. It is enough for a fighter to reach supersonic speed in a short time and perform a combat mission. For example, to launch hypersonic missiles, an aircraft must reach approximately three speeds of sound. A passenger supersonic aircraft must fly constantly at this speed. These are completely different requirements for engine reliability and service life. Military planes don’t fly for eight hours every day, but civilian planes do,” explained the lecturer.
But the most difficult thing in creating such an engine is the requirement for efficiency. “As far as I know, such an engine is not yet being worked on in Russia. And without an engine, it is impossible to talk about the prospect of a supersonic passenger plane in the next ten years,” Gusarov believes. The expert explained that the engines that are installed on the Tu-144 and the British-French Concorde supersonic passenger plane have a very high fuel consumption. Perhaps new developments will use hydrogen or nuclear technologies.
“This flight was fast but very expensive. Economy class tickets for the Concorde were sold at business class prices, making the aircraft profitable. When we can solve these problems, then the era of supersonic civil aviation will begin. The benefits will accrue to the country that has these developments when the market needs such an aircraft. Only a superpower can solve such a problem. Russia has every reason to consider itself as such,” Gusarov is convinced.
“We proceed from the fact that the first generation of supersonic passenger aircraft, in particular the Soviet Tu-144 aircraft, does not meet today’s requirements both in terms of efficiency and environmental friendliness,” adds Oleg Panteleev, executive director of the Aviaport agency. .
According to him, there are two problems that must be solved on the way to the realization of the aircraft project. “The first is to create a low-noise aircraft. After all, flying at supersonic speed while passing the speed of sound is inevitably associated with a powerful noise effect,” he says.
“And it should be kept to a minimum. This can be achieved by choosing the optimal shape of the aircraft. The second point is the combination of high speed and acceptable efficiency, including fuel. And here the technologies related to the aviation engine come to the fore,” explains the aviation expert.
“There are several conflicting technological requirements that currently make it impossible to create such an engine. Many solutions have been developed in combat aviation, but they also have their peculiarities. The fact is that most combat aircraft are designed for a short-term breakthrough of the enemy’s air defenses at supersonic speed or to quickly reach the interception line,” the interlocutor clarifies.
“A passenger plane has to fly for an hour or two at supersonic speed, and sometimes more if we are talking about a long route. And simply installing a conventional second engine from the new Su-57 on a civilian aircraft will not work, as they are designed without taking into account the requirements for the certification of civilian aircraft,” the analyst claimed. However, Panteleev notes, already known developments in materials and engine technologies from the Su-57 can be used in the development of an engine for a civilian aircraft.
“This is not a new practice. When considering the creation of a demonstrator of such an aircraft, various engine options were considered, including the D-30F6, intended for the MiG-31 interceptor. At the turn of the century, the Sukhoi Design Bureau was developing a project for a supersonic business jet, focusing on engines created on the basis of the power plant for the Yak-141 vertical takeoff and landing aircraft,” he listed.
“One way or another, a supersonic passenger plane will have a number of serious advantages. The first and foremost advantage is travel time. If now the trip from Moscow to Khabarovsk takes almost eight hours, the same Tu-144 managed to reduce this time to four hours,” Panteleev points out.
“In addition, second-generation aircraft will fly slower than their predecessors, but at the same time significantly faster than conventional aircraft. The reduction in time implies a reduction in requirements, for example in terms of the volume of individual space,” adds the interlocutor.
According to the expert, the average passenger will not need to have “the health of an astronaut to fly safely”. “However, there is an opinion that an aircraft flying at high altitude will be more exposed to radiation. But again, nothing will change for the common man. As for the crew members, they may need additional research to adjust the sanitary standards for flights,” the expert believes.
“I would like to emphasize that when it comes to creating not a demonstrator, but a commercial model, the most comfortable conditions for passengers will be created. In addition, the first aircraft will most likely be created in a business jet format. I think this will become a reality in the first half of the next decade,” concluded Panteleev.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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