Russia-InfoCentre has published a somewhat cryptic article that shows the country is still very much involved in the civil supersonic transport game...
Russian engineers from Central Institute of Aerohydrodynamics performed a supersonic cruise research for supersonic passenger aircrafts, flying over densely populated lands.
For this purpose they cooperated with "Sukhoi New Civil Technologies" company and Central Institute of Aviation Motors. Joint think-tank developed preliminary aerodynamic configurations for commercial supersonic aircrafts with cabins of various comfort levels and seats for 4-50 passengers.
Engineers also elaborated recommendations for appearance of mentioned advanced aircrafts and estimated aerodynamic, general, performance and ecological characteristics: airport noise and sonic boom level during supersonic cruising. The research shows that there exists a possibility to make a sonic boom much lower than it is now, and fulfilling airport noise stabdards also isn't a problem.
Like the US and Europe, Russian engineers are focusing on environmental factors, including methods to drastically reduce sonic boom signatures at ground level during cruise, and making takeoff and landing noise acceptable to airport communities.
NASA is investing more in mid-term supersonic technologies as well.
Thanks to the $1 billion in economic stimulus money it received from the US government, the agency has recently awarded contracts to Boeing and to Lockheed Martin to investigate various technologies related to supersonic commercial aircraft to enter service in the 2018 - 2020 timeframe.
At top is a picture of SAI's Quiet Supersonic Transport, which was designed under contract by Lockheed's Skunk Works team.
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