Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES
Construction of a supersonic business jet (SSBJ) is under study by Boeing. The company has opened talks with the Sukhoi Design Bureau in Russia over possible joint studies.
Few details about the study have been released by Boeing, which is handling the evaluation through its recently formed Boeing Business Jets (BBJ) company. BBJ president Borge Boeskov confirms that "-we are looking at a supersonic business jet. We've just had a meeting with Sukhoi about what it would look like".
Boeing says the studies are at an early stage and "-it is a long way off", but suggests that the first step will be aimed at defining the configuration for an aircraft seating between eight and 10 passengers.
"There are loads of things still to be solved," adds Boeskov.
The US company has been investing in civil supersonic technology in recent years, including taking a leading role in a joint research project with Russia, which involved returning the Tupolev Tu-144 to service for test flights. It was always assumed that the work was aimed at building a supersonic airliner as the company has never built a dedicated business jet before.
The recent success of BBJ in selling the Next Generation 737-based corporate aircraft has provided a platform to consider launching projects like the SSBJ.
The move follows the revelation late last year that Dassault Aviation is studying a similar project. The French corporate jet manufacturer is also seeking partners to pursue an SSBJ. Early design concepts emerging from both camps show an aircraft which is roughly the same size and speed (Flight International, 27 May-2 June). Dassault says its aircraft could fly by 2004.
The talks with Boeing mark Sukhoi's second attempt to develop an SSBJ. The first was in the early 1990s with Gulfstream. The proposed aircraft then outlined had seating for between eight and 19 passengers and a maximum cruising speed of Mach 2-2.2.
The talks are thought to be aimed at a smaller aircraft, with a cruise speed of about Mach 1.8. The Sukhoi/Gulfstream SSBJ, like the Dassault design, was a tri-jet and used several features borrowed from the Su-27 combat aircraft. It is not known whether the Boeing talks centre around this design.
Boeing Enterprises confirms that it has "been asked to look at" at a corporate version of the 717 to provide a potential stablemate to the 737-based BBJ.
Source: Flight International
