Is this what will fly over our borders?

Boom Supersonic's XB-1 demonstrator aircraft broke the sound barrier, marking a major milestone in the development of a larger, 55-seat supersonic airliner known as the Overture.

"Overture", will you be the third?

"Concorde" and Tu-144.
It is very difficult to judge to what extent this could be a prototype for a passenger airliner, the similarity with the Tu-144 and Concorde is very distant. But if you look at such devices as the U-2 and SR-71, then they have something in common.

SR-71

XB-1
However, the US makes no secret of the fact that they are looking at the plane from the other side. At least, “in general, this program could have significant consequences not only for commercial aviation, but also for the military” - this is what the developer company itself thinks.
And this demonstrator of the company's XB-1 broke the sound barrier for the first time, accelerating to supersonic speed in just over 11 minutes of flight.

The aircraft accelerated to Mach 1,1 under the control of former U.S. Navy test pilot Tristan "Geppetto" Brandenburg from Mojave Airport in California. For most of the flight, the XB-1 was accompanied by two other supersonic aircraft: a Mirage F1 piloted by A.J. "Face" McFarland (not a civilian pilot, by the way), which served as the primary escort, and a T-38 Talon, which served as a photo control. During the flight, the XB-1 reached supersonic speeds three times and landed safely in Mojave after a flight lasting just over 30 minutes.

What's remarkable is that, of course, the Mirage F1 was never in service with the US Air Force, Navy, or Marine Corps. It's probably a private jet owned by McFarland, whose call sign screams that AJ is a military or former military (if former is the norm for them, otherwise it might not be) pilot. And the T-38 is a regular training aircraft for both the US Air Force and NASA. And for some reason, the pilot's name modestly disappeared from the reports.
So yes, the XB-1 was a prototype built for a passenger airliner program, but the military was lurking unobtrusively behind the tail unit.

The XB-1 becomes the latest supersonic platform to take to the skies over Test Flight Valley, continuing historical The first flights were made here by aircraft such as the X-1, North American X-15 and Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.
The XB-1 is ultimately expected to have a top speed of around Mach 2,2, or about 2 km/h.
The XB-1, also known as "Baby-Boom," is a 1/3 scale technology demonstrator for Overture. It made its maiden flight in Mojave on March 22, 2024, and during that flight, the XB-1 reached speeds of nearly 500 mph and an altitude of 2500 ft. Chief Test Pilot Bill "Doc" Shoemaker was at the controls that time, and "Geppetto" Brandenburg was flying a T-38 Talon escort plane. Which pretty much confirms the larger picture: Boom Supersonic has military/former military personnel in many positions, meaning the military is well aware of everything that's going on at Boom Supersonic.
The company first announced the development of a prototype in November 2016, about eight months after announcing its plans to build the Overture. On October 7, 2020, Boom Supersonic released the XB-1, which has the civilian registration number N990XB in the United States.
The XB-1 design makes extensive use of advanced technologies, including carbon fiber composite materials, advanced avionics and digital aerodynamic optimization.

The XB-1 has an unusual power plant that allows it to reach supersonic speeds and perhaps has the potential for more. It consists of three General Electric J85-15 turbofan engines, which together produce about 60 kN of thrust.
The J85 is a well-established engine, also used in the Northrop F-5 and T-38. But it could easily be replaced by something roughly the same size but more powerful. The three-engine design itself is exotic, but since the XB-1 was introduced, another three-engine aircraft has emerged from the shadows: a Chinese advanced combat aircraft tentatively known as the J-36.
Compared to the XB-1, the Overture will be considerably larger: 61 meters long versus 21 for the prototype, but the altitude and speed characteristics are declared to be approximately the same: maximum speed is 2,2 Mach, cruising speed is 1,7 Mach, and the range at cruising speed will be about 9 km. And these figures indicate that the Overture will have slightly different engines.
The Overture, which aims to make supersonic travel more accessible to more travelers, is expected to carry a total of 64 to 80 passengers. Designed to significantly reduce the duration of transoceanic flights, the aircraft is “designed to be profitable for airlines at prices similar to first and business class,” according to the company’s website.
The last time such characteristics were available to passengers was on board the Anglo-French Concorde.

A ticket on this iconic airliner cost several times more than an equivalent business class ticket, and the airliner was taken out of service at the end of 2003. And accidents also played a role.

Before Concorde, there was the Soviet Tu-144, which became the world's first supersonic passenger jet when it entered service in 1975. However, it made only about 100 commercial flights, about half of which were passenger flights, before it was quickly relegated to cargo duties. It ended its career as a supersonic research aircraft, including for NASA.

Boom has previously said that each Overture will cost $200 million to produce. On its website, it also says that Overture's "order backlog consists of 130 orders and pre-orders" from American Airlines, United Airlines, and Japan Airlines.
Boom says the plan is to roll out the first version of the Overture in 2026, with test flights starting in 2027 and type certification expected by 2029. It's still a very ambitious project with many hurdles to overcome, and we wouldn't be surprised if those deadlines aren't met. These days, deadlines that are "shifted to the right" and then cost more are par for the course.
But beyond the commercial market, the potential military applications of the Overture should not be overlooked. We simply must consider this scenario as well.
There are some prerequisites for this: Since 2020, Boom has been working with the US Air Force to develop a potential version of the Overture for high-speed flights of government officials. While transporting government officials at supersonic speeds would be a unique and highly prestigious opportunity, the Overture’s design also allows for the rapid transport of cargo and personnel, something the Air Force is also interested in.
In July 2022, Northrop Grumman and Boom announced a collaboration to develop a variant of Overture specifically for the U.S. military and its allies. At the time, Boom noted that a military variant would be ideal for “rapid response operations.”
Chief Test Engineer Nick Sherica spoke about the capabilities of the XB-1 in the following style:
Well, that's it. Observation of large areas and coordination of other aircraft. What kind? Of course, not passenger aircraft. The resource www.airandspaceforces.com, without any embarrassment, hinted that the J85-15 engines could be replaced with F-135-PW-100/400 from Pratt & Whitney with minimal expenses, which would give a threefold increase in power. And here, with such a layout, we can already talk about other speeds and other altitudes.
It’s hard to say how much effort has gone into developing “defense options” for the Overture. In September 2023, Boom announced the creation of its own defense advisory group, building on its partnership with Northrop Grumman. The group is designed to help define “national security missions” for which the aircraft could be used.
But, as with Overture's commercial applications, the prospect of a military version is also fraught with difficulties. The history of previous programs shows how difficult it is to make commercial supersonic flight a reality, especially at an affordable price. However, whether Boom's primary goal remains impossible to say. Military budgets make more money than commercial flights, that's a fact.

But for now, it’s worth thinking about the Boom Supersonic’s achievement of breaking the sound barrier with the XB-1. Whatever the future holds for this ambitious program, the exotic test aircraft will undoubtedly attract the attention of the military. And they are unlikely to miss their chance.
In fact, the US has long been looking with great pleasure towards the private sector. NASA has long since caught up with Roscosmos in helplessness and has nothing to offer in terms of spaceships. Everything is done by private companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Sierra Space, Boeing. Who said that the same is completely impossible in the field of aircraft manufacturing? And if there is a decent private development, then why is the military department unable to use it to the fullest extent? And at the end, get a product ready for use, no matter whether as a reconnaissance aircraft or a high-speed transport. This really does not matter, the final result is important.

The passenger airliner "Overture" - yes, of course, it could well happen. But the production of airliners, sales, maintenance, payback - all this will fall on the manufacturer. And the military budget is a military budget. This is a temptation, so a high-altitude high-speed reconnaissance aircraft or an operational delivery aircraft may appear much earlier than a commercial airliner. Especially since the US has an obvious problem with these classes of aircraft. And high-speed aircraft capable of quickly transporting cargo over the vast distances of the Pacific Ocean - this will be necessary if the US does not write off China as enemy No. 1. And reconnaissance aircraft capable of looking with impunity a little further than satellites are also not a useless thing.
So the emergence of a successor to the U-2 and SR-71 is not such a stupid idea as it may seem. And a super- or hypersonic transport that does not particularly need an escort is even more so.
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