Jul. 20—GUILFORD COUNTY — The startup aviation company that plans to build a new generation of supersonic airliners at Piedmont Triad International Airport announced a deal on Tuesday to also develop plans for supersonic military aircraft.
The collaborative agreement between Boom Supersonic and defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. to design aircraft providing quick-reaction capabilities to the U.S. military and U.S. allies was announced at the Farnborough International Air Show in England.
The aircraft would be a variant of Boom's Overture commercial aircraft, which is supposed to begin production in 2024 in a yet-to-be-built plant at PTIA, making use of Northrop Grumman's airborne defense systems.
The commercial version of Overture is being designed to carry 65 to 80 passengers at up to 1.7 times the speed of sound, twice the speed of today's airliners.
Boom Supersonic founder and CEO Blake Scholl told a media briefing that Boom wanted to enter "the other half of the market," meaning the military.
"Time is a strategic advantage in high-consequence scenarios, from military operations to disaster response," he said.
Potential uses for a military variant of Overture include quick-reaction surveillance and reconnaissance, command and control, as well as mobility and logistics missions such as emergency medical and troop transport, a Boom Supersonic press release said.
Boom also unveiled at the Farnborough air show a new, refined design of Overture that features gull wings and four wing-mounted engines, among other changes. The company said the new design is "the culmination of 26 million core-hours of simulated software designs, five wind tunnel tests, and the careful evaluation of 51 full design iterations."
Boom Supersonic has said it plans for Overture to make its first commercial flight carrying passengers in 2029. United Airlines has agreed to buy at least 15 of the planes.
Boom Supersonic announced in January it would build its aircraft "superfactory" at PTIA, investing $500 million through the end of the decade and creating 1,760 jobs.
Grading and site work at the company's planned "superfactory" at PTIA began in the spring, and construction of the plan is scheduled to begin in the fall.
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