Boom Supersonic looks to tap defense potential for commercial aircraft
DENVER - Boom Supersonic in Denver announced the launch of its Defense Advisory Group to assess Boom's Overture aircraft for national security missions. The independent council brings together top military and defense experts to progress the development of defense variants of Overture. Overture will fly at twice the speed of today's airliners with a max range of 4,250 nautical miles.
Boom named seven founding members ranging from retired General Officers to Department of Defense civilian senior executives with expertise in mobility operations, executive airlift, Air Force acquisitions, and research and development within the defense community. The Defense Advisory Group founding members include: General William M. Fraser III, USAF (Retired), former Commander of U.S. Transportation Command, Air Combat Command, and USAF Vice Chief of Staff; General Raymond E. Johns, USAF (Retired), former Commander of U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command; General Carlton (Dewey) Everhart II, USAF (Retired), former Commander of U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command; Lieutenant General Ted Bowlds, USAF (Retired), former Commander Electronic Systems Command; Mr. David E. Hamilton, Retired Senior Executive Service, former Director and Program Executive Officer for the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office; Major General Lawrence M. Martin, Jr., USAF (Retired), former Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force, International Affairs; and Major General Kyle Kremer, USAF (Retired), former Director of Strategy, Plans, Requirements and Programs for Air Mobility Command.
"The experienced leaders joining the Defense Advisory Group will guide us in optimizing our aircraft for government customers," said Kathy Savitt, president of Boom Supersonic. "We know that we can deliver a valuable product to the Department of Defense with a specialized variant of Overture."
Continuing Boom's progress in the defense market and building upon their collaboration with leading global aerospace and defense technology company Northrop Grumman, the Defense Advisory Group will identify the most valuable and critical use cases for supersonic transport.
"Overture has great potential to provide value to the Department of Defense. The advisory group brings decades of experience to the table to discuss considerations that will enable applications to a broad spectrum of military missions," said Retired General Raymond Johns. "I look forward to continued collaboration with Boom as we determine how to best optimize Overture to serve the unique needs of the United States government and our allies around the world."
In addition to the development of a special mission variant of Overture, Boom announced in July that it will support Northrop Grumman on a NASA contract to deliver solutions for the High-Speed Endo-atmospheric Commercial Vehicle Conceptual Design Study and Technology Roadmaps Development program. The study for future research and development will identify technologies to continue the advancement of commercial supersonic flight efficiency.
