The U.S. Military has given a $60 million grant to Boom Supersonic, indicating its interest in the development of new commercial supersonic flight and possibly even military applications of the technology.
Boom Supersonic announced Wednesday that it had received a grant from the U.S. Air Force. As part of the grant, the company said it signed a three-year contract, which is aimed at further accelerating the research and development of its Overture supersonic commercial airliner. The grant, known as the Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI), is part of a military program to bring commercial technologies to operational status quicker through financial support.
The aviation company said it had already selected Piedmont Triad International Airport in North Carolina as the site of its full-scale manufacturing facility. The company expects to begin full production at the facility in 2024. Boom claimed that the first Overture supersonic aircraft should roll out of the production line by 2025.
Boom said its goal is to acquire regulatory approval to begin test flights of its supersonic airplane by 2026 and then move on to commercial operation by 2029. The company's aircraft is designed to carry between 65 and 88 passengers. Overture will be flying at subsonic speeds overland and then move to supersonic speeds when it is above water. This means that the aircraft can travel at twice the speeds of conventional commercial aircraft.
The company designed the aircraft to run on "sustainable fuels" as a way of making it future-proof and make it in line with its goal to become a net-zero carbon company down the line.
Military sources said the Air Force is interested in the technology for applications such as rapid global travel and logistics. The technology could also be used for special operations, reconnaissance, and executive transport where time is of the utmost importance. The Air Force made issued the $60 million grant through its AFWERX program.
Boom founder and CEO Blake Scholl said that through the grant, the company should be able to provide the Air Force with its "unique requirements and need for global military missions." He added that as a platform for the Air Force, the company's Overture airplane would give the military a great operational advantage both domestically and internationally.
While the grant from the military is merely a drop in the bucket compared to what Boom will need to develop Overture, it still serves as a major vote of confidence for the company. Boom previously estimated that it would need somewhere between $6 billion and $8 billion to fully develop and manufacture Overture.
