France and Japan Planning New Supersonic Jet

jonerik writes "According to this article from the Associated Press, Japan and France are cooperating on research to produce a supersonic passenger plane that would be able to carry 300 passengers (three times as many as the Concorde) and fly from New York City to Tokyo in a mere six hours. Current plans are for the plane to be able to cruise at mach 2.4 while reducing the noise and high fuel consumption associated with the Concorde during its years of service. Although Japan had previously done extensive research towards building a 250-person mach 1.6 passenger jet, the agreement with France - announced at the annual Paris Air Show on Tuesday - represents a interesting shift in technological alliances given the Japanese aviation industry's longstanding ties to the United States. '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 on the Japanese side."

Comments

Japan and France

[TopSpin]

Now if they could only figure out a way to resolve this.

Japan is 127 mega-people with 4 giga-dollars of GDP. France is just over 60 mega-people with 1.6 giga-dollars of GDP. Yet, somehow, France has concluded that Japan must "concede" to France's desire to build ITER in France, as if the conclusion is preordained and we're all just waiting for Japan to figure this out. Almost four years have gone by while we wait for this "decision."

Thankfully, a controversial US leader had decided that should this stalemate continue, the US will pursue a similar project domestically. The Western world treats France as damage and routes around it.

Re:Fuck France

[MightyMartian]

Yes, the Americans were oh so quick to come to help. They also found it convenient to arm Britain in a selfless act that included taking virtually every drop of money the Brits had earned since Elizabeth I's day.