Jamie Harris of The Sun reports that China is vying to take on the ‘Son of Concorde’ with an even faster supersonic jet, LKTX’s Yunxing series, that could blast from London to New York City in less than two hours. Harris writes:
Beijing-based Space Transportation – also known as Lingkong Tianxing Technology – has been carrying out test flights and recently reached a speed of 3,106 mph which is four times the speed of sound, according to Chinese media. […]
The so-called Jindouyun engine, or JinDou400, could enable travel twice as fast as the iconic Concorde.
“This engine has significant commercial potential in the field of high-speed flight within near-space environments,” told firm told SCMP. […]
The aircraft is also designed for vertical take-off and landing.
Their development comes as a rival jet in the US dubbed the “Son of Concorde” makes progress having recently completed its ninth test flight.
Boom Technology’s XB-1 could eventually cut journey times from London to New York City to 3.5 hours, down from the eight or so hours it currently takes.
A new maximum speed of Mach 0.87 – the equivalent to 667mph – was hit earlier this month, as well as a height of 27,716 ft.
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