Supercruise

A supercruising aircraft is able to cruise at supersonic speeds without the use of afterburners. The first aircraft to exceed Mach 1 in level flight without afterburners was the P.1 prototype of the English Electric Lightning, on August 4, 1954.

Related Topics:
Aircraft - Supersonic - Afterburner - English Electric Lightning - August 4 - 1954

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Aircraft with supercruise include:

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• Concorde
• English Electric Lightning
• BAC TSR-2
• Eurofighter Typhoon
• F/A-22 Raptor
• Dassault Rafale
• MiG-35

Afterburners, which most military aircraft use to travel at supersonic speeds, are very inefficient compared to conventional jet engine operation. Therefore, in general, an aircraft which can supercruise has greater endurance at supersonic speeds than one which cannot. Furthermore, without a requirement to carry such a large quantity of fuel, a supercruise-capable aircraft can have a more favourable fuel fraction, the proportion of the plane's overall mass which is devoted to fuel.

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