Boeing unveils ‘Evolved’ Hypersonic Aircraft Model

Boeing unveiled a “reusable hypersonic” aircraft model at the AIAA SciTech aerospace forum in San Diego.

The wave rider-shaped model reportedly advances the hypersonic airliner concept the company released four years ago, unofficially named Valkyrie.

Aviation Week Senior Editor Guy Norris shared images of the model on Twitter, calling it a more “realistic Mach 5 reusable air-breathing design” compared to the previous iteration and claimed that the aircraft could potentially have military and space applications.

That the model is a combined-cycle aircraft with a gas turbine and scramjet engine. It uses the gas turbine engine during take-off and transitions to scramjet mode when sufficient speed has been achieved.