Boeing’s Next-Gen Spy Jet Will Be 5 Times Faster than Sound

Boeing has announced a hypersonic model better and faster than the iconic Blackbird SR-71 spy jet, which will be able to break the sound barrier and be 5 times faster than sound.

A concept model of the revamped plane, which is called “Son of Blackbird,” was showcased at a showroom in Orlando, Florida. However, the plane has not been built yet and the company couldn’t provide a timeline for the project. The new spy jet will be a rival to Lockheed Martin’s spy plane, the SR-72.

The two models are capable of carrying out spy missions and even attacks. Boeing told the Aviation Week Aerospace Daily that the new model will take two steps to develop.

During the first stage, the company will conduct flight tests of an engine that is just a “proof of concept” for the time being. The next stage involves developing a twin-engine and incorporate it into a full-scale operational plane. The dimensions of the new plane will match those of the SR-71, i.e. it will be 107-foot-long.

Boeing Has Ambitious Plans

Boeing plans to build a plane that is faster even than the Mach 5 hypersonic jet which is five times faster than the speed of sound. Mach 1 flies at the speed of sound which is 767 mph or 1,235 km per hour.

So, Son of Bird will fly at a mind-blowing speed of 3,835 mph (or 6,174 km per hour). By contrast, a 700-passenger commercial plane travels at a maximum speed of 550 mph (885km per hour).

However, the SR-71’s successor will have to take off and land without the help of a human pilot, jutst like the initial model built in 1964.

Boeing engineers plan to first test a conventional engine to hit the speeds of Mach 3 and to use a different configuration to match the Mach 5. The company couldn’t unveil a date for a sky-ready plane.
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When I was younger I used to spend almost all of my free time playing computer games. My mom and dad would go mental over this. “You’re never going to do anything with your life if you are going to play games all day” they used to say. What was even more unusual was the fact that I played more games than most of the guys in my friend group. Looking back, I have to admit that I probably played a bit too much, but I also learned a lot of great things. When I turned 20 I decided that it was high-time to make some money of my own, but the only jobs I could get were that of waitress or cashier. How exciting. After several excruciating months of serving tables I had a great idea: since I love gaming so much, why don’t I write about it? That’s when I started doing small writing projects on Elance. Eventually, I got an offer for a part-time job. During that time I learned all about content marketing strategies and how search engines work. I started writing about various topics such as technology, health and lifestyle and discovered that I was actually good at it. On November 24, 2014, I became part of the ArgyllFreePress team.