Airbus awarded patent for new supersonic aircraft

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus has been awarded a patent for an aircraft that should be able to reach a speed of Mach 4.5. The plane would have to use three different types of engines to achieve that speed and can take off vertically.

The patent was assigned to Airbus by the USPTO, the International Business Times reported. The plane could take off vertically and accelerate with the help of jet engines. The turbojets collapse at a certain point, after which the aircraft should rise to an altitude of 30 kilometers with the help of a rocket engine. At that altitude, two ramjets take over so that the plane must be able to reach a speed of Mach 4.5, about 5500 kilometers per hour, which makes the device go almost hypersonic.

According to Airbus, about 20 people should fit on the plane, who could fly from London to New York in about an hour. The aircraft described in the patent will probably not fly quickly, to date developing (near-)hysonic aircraft has proven to be very difficult.