Low-Boom Supersonic X-Plane

NASA Picks Lockheed Martin to Make Low-Boom Supersonic X-Plane

Lockheed, whose Skunk Works division did initial work on the jet, wins the $247.5 million contract to build a quieter plane that could lead to a new era of supersonic flight.

By Jay Bennett

 NASA/LOCKHEED MARTIN

NASA just announced the next step in supersonic flight research: a new piloted X-plane to be built by Lockheed Martin called the Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator (LBFD). The aircraft, about the size of an F-16, will take advantage of a long and slender shape to decrease the noise of a sonic boom.


First flight of the LBFD is slated for summer of 2021. Shortly thereafter, NASA plans to fly the plane up to Mach 1.4 at an altitude of 55,000 feet over 50-square-mile testing areas in the American Southwest. Because the point of the program is to build a supersonic plane with a quieter sonic boom, NASA will survey hundreds of people living in the communities under the flight testing areas to find out if they heard booms coming from the LBFD and gauge their reactions to the noise.

"WE'LL FLY THIS PLANE AT SUPERSONIC SPEEDS OVER LAND, BUT QUIETLY."

NASA intends to take what it learns from LBFD and give that data to the FAA and international flight authorities, so that they may “use the data to change the current rules that ban supersonic flight over land,” said Jaiwon Shin, NASA Associate Administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, in a press conference this afternoon. "We'll fly this plane at supersonic speeds over land, but quietly."

Lockheed Martin Skunk Works has been working with NASA on the single-engine, single-pilot LBFD design for some time, conducting aircraft modeling and wind tunnel tests. Lockheed was the only bid for the contract to build the aircraft, but the fact that Skunks Works did the initial design work has NASA confident the program can stay on schedule.

“The bid that Lockheed Martin put in was excellent,” said Ed Waggoner, program director for NASA’s Integrated Aviation Systems Program, during the press conference. “From the government point of view, we think we’re getting a bargain.”

The supersonic plane is designed to be affordable by using parts taken from other jets, such as the canopy of a T-38, the landing gear of an F-16, and various components from the F/A-18. The engine is a GE 414-400, the same engine used on the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The contract awarded to Lockheed Martin to build the jet is worth $247.5 million.

The shape of the 94-foot-long aircraft is the unique part of its design. A highly-swept delta wing that spans only 29.5 feet is perfect for high-altitude, high-speed flight. The long and slender plane removes additional protruding parts by using a camera system to give the pilot outside views, as his natural view will be limited.

Multiple lifting surfaces, such as forward canards and a small t-tail, will prevent shock waves from coalescing on the surface of the aircraft. When these pressure waves merge, they create the loud double-thunderclap of a traditional sonic boom. By keeping shock waves separated as the aircraft breaks the sound barrier, researchers aim to reduce the noise of a sonic boom to a low rumble, barely audible on the ground.

NASA hopes to generate a sonic boom noise of 70-75 perceived decibel level (PLdB), significantly lower than the 105 PLdB of the Concorde. The agency hopes the regulatory organizations who receive this data will set a PLdB level for commercial flight over land rather than outright banning planes from breaking the sound barrier.

After first flight in 2021, NASA plans to validate the aircraft and confirm it does in fact reduce the noise of a sonic boom. These validation tests will run into 2022, and then the survey flights will begin, with two tests per year for about three years. A total of four to six surveys is planned to gauge the public's response to the LBFD breaking the sound barrier over their communities.

With what NASA and Lockheed are both touting as a simple and affordable design, and a clear path to testing, NASA's next supersonic X-plane could take to the skies in just a few years.