Tu-244 is a proposed development of the Tu-144. It aims to carry 300 passengers to 9,500km using cryogenic fuel i.e the fuel is stored at freezing(cryo) temperatures.

Tupolev has the maximum experience in large supersonic aeroplanes among Russian OKBs - mostly Tuploev was entrusted with the prestigous job of designing Soviet bombers. These include the Tu-22 and Tu-22M, Tu-144 Charger and Tu-160 Blackjack - the last two are inferior to their western counterparts - the Concorde and B-1B bomber.

Tu-144 is credited with being the world's first civilian SST. It is based on the Concorde and hence also referred to as 'Concordeski'. The Charger was a failure - it consumed too much fuel, produced to much noise, never made money. Even the Concorde took a long time before it could be profitable.

Cryogenic fuel gives great performance. Tupolev has flight tested planes like Tu-155, which is a cryo version of Tu-154. During a test flight on July 8, 1989 piloted by V. Sevankayev, Tu-155 set four world records for altitude in horizontal flight without payload (9510 m), altitude with 1000 kg payload (9520m), altitude without payload (9520m), greatest mass carried to height of 2000 m (2308.20 kg). Tu-154 is a civilian aircraft used by Aeroflot mostly for training purposes. It is equipped with 3 turbofan jet engines. One such plane crashed into the black sea (October 2001).

Tu-244 can be considered analogous to USA's High Speed Civilian Transport or HSCT. A lot of effort had already been put into it when it was cancelled too. The problem is that civilian or military SSTs are simply too expensive to pursue - which means that no plane ever offered competition to the Concorde in the west and will not offer any in the forseeable future.

While Tu-144 was the only civilian SST, in the late 1990s Tuploev proposed a conversion of the Tu-22M-3 Backfire-M bomber into a business jet for 10-12 passengers : Tu-344. Backfire-M's variable swept wing facility allows it greater range and efficiency than the fixed wing Tu-22. The demand for a supersonic business jet has been felt in the industry, but it is unclear where these projects will become reality. Even Sukhoi considered such a jet - the S-21.

In 2001, Boeing reveiled the Sonic Cruiser concept. The Sonic Cruiser aims to strike a balance between High-Speed and Economics by carrying 200+ passengers at slightly above Mach 1 or at Transonic speeds i.e. speeds slightly less than Mach 1. Using tried and tested Boeing 777 technology for engines and avionics, Boeing could probably have a Sonic Cruiser in the air by 2006. A Sonic Cruiser flying New York to London would lop around 1 hour 15 minutes off the journey time; but up to four hours could be saved the aircraft had the range to fly on a non-Polar route between New York and Tokyo.

Provided funding is available, the Tu-244 can fly before 2015. The harsh reality is that the funding will never come - and Tu-244 will remain a part of the long list of Soviet/Russian projects that would never happen.

Also See :

Aircraft	:	Concorde
Aircraft	:	XB-70 Valkyrie
Aircraft	:	Su-T4

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