Boeing has revealed a preliminary design for a passenger
airliner that could travel as fast as Mach 5.
Flying that fast could get passengers anywhere in the world
in three hours, Boeing spokeswoman Brianna Jackson said.
Still, don't start making plans for your daytrip to
Singapore just yet. Jackson said it's possible such an aircraft will be
operational in 20 to 30 years. The technology would likely first find its way
into military systems, Jackson said.
"By looking decades ahead at what could be possible, we
are smarter about the type of innovations and technologies we should be
exploring now," she wrote. "Although we are not building a hypersonic
aircraft at this time, our advanced concepts, in conjunction with our efforts
to develop enabling technology, position us for the time when customers and
markets are ready to reap the benefits of hypersonic flight."
The Concorde, which thus far is fastest passenger aircraft
to take to the skies, had a maximum speed of approximately Mach 2.