New aircraft quietens sonic booms, making two-hour coast-to-coast flights a reality. Imagine crossing America faster than ever before.
by Kris Osborn, Warrior
Anyone interested in traveling from Washington DC to Los Angeles 925mph might soon be able to get there in about two hours, less than half the time of the fastest currently available commercial airplanes. Indeed supersonic travel may have just blasted into reality, as Lockheed Martin just flew a first-of-its kind supersonic aircraft while reducing the “sonic boom” to a “gentle thump.”
The ability to travel at supersonic speeds is of course here today, in the realm of 4th and 5th generation fighter jets, yet the sound-barrier breaking “boom” noise has made domestic supersonic commercial flight untenable… until now. Should this X-59 aircraft evolve as expected, commercial passengers may quite realistically be able to fly across the US coast to coast in a few hours, as opposed to the more than five hour current flight time.
The X-59 is engineered to travel at speeds of 925mph and at altitudes of 55,000 feet; the aircraft travels at speeds of Mach 1.4, roughly twice the speed of today’s fastest commercial airliners.
Lockheed X-59
“The X-59's successful development and flight testing will inform the establishment of new data-driven acceptable noise thresholds related to supersonic commercial flight over land, paving the way for a new generation of supersonic aircraft that can efficiently and sustainably transport passengers and cargo twice as fast as aircraft today,” a Lockheed statement said.
The X-59 took off from Skunk Works' facility at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, before landing near NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
“The X-59 performed exactly as planned, verifying initial flying qualities and air data performance on the way to a safe landing at its new home,” the Lockheed essay said.
Lockheed and NASA successfully completed the flight as part of a joint effort to explore the prospect of ultra high-speed commercial flight.
"X-59 is a symbol of American ingenuity. The American spirit knows no bounds. It's part of our DNA – the desire to go farther, faster, and even quieter than anyone has ever gone before. This work sustains America's place as the leader in aviation and has the potential to change the way the public flies," said Sean Duffy, acting NASA Administrator.
Military Applications?
While the NASA-Lockheed joint venture is decidedly aimed at commercial flight, an ability to transport hundreds of forces, weapons and equipment at Mach 1.4 would definitely have some clear military implications. The fastest current US Air Force cargo plane, the C-17 Globemaster III can travel carrying tanks up to 518mph, speeds which bring substantial tactical significance. Should the X-59 technology evolve as expected, then weapons developers are likely to envision engineering a US Air Force tank and troop-transporting cargo aircraft traveling at 925mph. This would be of great tactical significance in the event of great power conflict, as tanks, artillery, armored vehicles and forces could be transported to a needed combat location twice as fast. This could change the pace of assault, offer new methods of “closing with an enemy” and expedite Combined Arms Maneuver operations.
The potential military significance here would be difficult to understate, given the Army’s long-standing focus on expeditionary warfare and deployability. Traditionally, heavy armor has proved quite difficult to deploy, mobilize or “move” quickly around a combat theater. However, should tanks and infantry carriers travel at Mach 1.4 from one combat location to another where they are urgently needed, armored warfare tactics could change rather dramatically. For many years now, the Army has been working to become more expeditionary by engineering lighter weight platforms, unmanned systems and multi-domain networking. A simple ability to move heavy armor from one combat location to another at twice the speed opens up previously impossible land war “maneuver” possibilities. There is also the question of force mobilization, as combat contingencies might urgently call for troop reinforcements. Speed of travel for infantry and weapons at scale could completely change the outcome of a given war circumstance.
Wide Area Maneuver
Speed of travel is also of great consequence in the context of a modern or “future” battlefield, given that the ranges of sensors and weapons .. and the fast evolving multi-domain character of warfare … mean that combat theaters will continue to grow much larger and more expansive than ever before. Weapons and formations will operate at much greater distances and network more quickly and easily between air, land and sea domains. Simply put, the battlefield is becoming more expansive in an almost exponential manner, so speed of travel in combat over great distances would be of great tactical consequence.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.