{General} 'Son of Concorde' plans unveiled

[BEER980]

Japan and France are to work together to develop a successor to the retired supersonic jet aircraft Concorde. Companies from the countries will split an annual investment of $1.84m (£1.01m) for research over the next three years, Japan's trade ministry said. The new plane will have 300 seats and cut the flight time between New York and Tokyo to six hours, reports said.

The original Concorde, built by the UK and France, was taken out of service after 34 years in 2003. Japan and France said they signed the agreement at the Paris Air Show.

Successful tests

"This is truly significant industrial co-operation," Japan's Trade Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said. "Bringing their respective advantages together... should lead to the ability to offer highly-advanced aircraft and services in the future." The ministry added that Japan had successfully tested an engine that could theoretically reach speeds of up to five times the speed of sound.

Concorde flew at mach 2 - twice the speed of sound - but it never recouped the huge amounts invested in it by the time it was taken out of service. However, France will bring its own knowledge of the aircraft to the table as airline Air France was one of Concorde's two operators, while the country's Aerospatiale - now parts of EADS - was part of the design team.

The deal also represents a break with Japan's habit of working with US firms. "To research closely in this area with the Europeans does represent something new," said Yoshio Watanabe, an official with The Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies, which is heading the new initiative in Japan.
Source