(Reuters) – Boom Supersonic charted plans on Tuesday to develop an engine for its jets in partnership with a unit of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions after a snub from legacy civil engine makers left the U.S. startup with few options.
Boom, the latest U.S. entrant seeking to bring back supersonic flying, did not disclose any financial details related to the announcement, which also outlined deals with GE Additive and maintenance, repair & overhaul firm StandardAero.
Boom Chief Executive Officer Blake Scholl, an ex-Amazon executive who founded the company in 2014, said Florida Turbine Technologies will lead the engine design for its Overture jet and also build “some of the first engines” for the jets.
Engine makers General Electric, Safran, Rolls-Royce and Honeywell International Inc had said they had no plans to develop civil supersonic engines for the time-being, leaving the future of Overture jet hanging in the balance.
Overture, a supersonic airliner with 65 to 88 seats priced initially at business class fares, would cut transatlantic flying time in half to about 3-1/2 hours.
Denver-based Boom garnered headlines this year after signing purchase deals with carriers such as American Airlines and United Airlines.
(Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
