Chinese researchers unveil supersonic aircraft so silent it’d travel at Mach 1 quieter than a car
- Chinese engineers from Comac announced big aviation new
- They reduced the noise of a sonic boom to the same level as a car
- Sadly, we won’t see the new plane until 2049
Published on Apr 01, 2025 at 8:10 PM (UTC+4)
by Daisy Edwards
Last updated on Apr 02, 2025 at 12:09 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Chinese researchers revealed in a scientific journal that they’d manufactured a supersonic aircraft so silent it’d travel at Mach 1 with basically no noise – quieter than a car.
The Chinese aerospare giant Cormac has big plans to change the face of air travel as we know it with their new concept supersonic aircraft, the C949.
While so many jets create a sonic boom when they go supersonic, the C949 is meant to be quieter than a car when it travels at Mach 1.
It is going to have an extended mile range, even longer than the Concorde, meaning non-stop transcontinental flights may be possible.
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This supersonic aircraft is quieter than a car
Comac, the Chinese aerospace giant, has done it again with a plan for a new supersonic airplane, and this time, they’ve got their engineers to thank.
Published in the March 14 edition of the scientific journal, Acta Aeronautica Sinica, Comac engineers led by an award-winning aerodynamicist Wu Dawei, gave details on their newest concept plane.
They explained how they’ve managed to almost completely reduce the sound of sonic booms when it comes to supersonic travel.
They were planning to try and create a supersonic aircraft that’s even better than the gold standard – the Concorde – and they believe they’ve done it with a plane that’s called the C4.
What makes the C949 better than the Concorde?
The C949 will be better than the Concorde for a couple of reasons, the main ones being the highly praised noise reduction, as well as the long range.
The C949 will have a long nose shaped like a needle which will reduce the shock wave from going supersonic into three smaller pulses, reducing noise.
The plane will have special bumps near the engines which will help to scatter the aircraft’s turbulence and reduce the sound of the boom.
The fuselage is also described as ‘shape shifting’, which should weaken the shock as well.
The jet’s range should be double what the Concorde’s was, but so much quieter, meaning it meets the requirements to take off from a general passenger airport, as well as fly non-stop between different continents.
We can’t wait to see this plane, but it’s going to be a while, especially as Comac announced it won’t be commercial until at least 2049- something to look forward to, we guess.
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Daisy Edwards is a Content Writer at supercarblondie.com. Daisy has more than five years’ experience as a qualified journalist, having graduated with a degree from Goldsmiths, University of London and a dissertation in vintage electric vehicles. Daisy specializes in writing about cars, EVs, tech and luxury lifestyle.
