Supersonic jet could fly from New York to London in 3 hours

A new supersonic luxury plane that could fly people from New York to London in just three hours is being developed by a team of engineers, including those of Indian-origin.

Boston-based, Spike Aerospace's S-512 Supersonic Jet was introduced in 2013, but the company recently announced a few updates to the plane's design. The company said the updated design could make the superfast plane even speedier.

It claims the S-512 could reach a maximum speed of Mach 1.8 (2,205 km/h), which is 1.8 times the speed of sound. At such blistering speeds, passengers could travel from New York to London in three hours. Passengers could fly from Paris to Dubai "for shopping and entertainment and back home in time for dinner," the company said.

This superfast travel is facilitated by the plane's newly designed "delta" wings, according to Anutosh Moitra, a senior engineer at Spike Aerospace. "The new delta wing of the S-512 delivers high aerodynamic efficiency and improved flight performance in both low-speed flight and supersonic cruise," Moitra said.

Both the shape of the jet's wings and its newly modified tail help reduce drag, or air resistance, which slows the plane down and decreases the fuel efficiency of the aircraft, Moitra said. The new tail also makes the plane lighter, which, in turn, helps it fly faster, he added.

The S-512, designed as a business jet, will likely cost between $60 million and $80 million.

"Flying supersonic is clearly the future of aviation," said Vik Kachoria, CEO and president of Spike Aerospace.