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

How come France is involved?

[ldesegur]

France may look very peaceful by denying Bush their support during the Iraq invasion, but the masquerade stops right here. How come a tiny country with rubbish economy (17%+ unemployment) is involved in this type of deal. France is a worldwide provider of weapons to whomever wants to sign the big checks (African and South American wannabe dictators mostly) and Dassault, the infamous jet fighter builder, has been building these jets that kill thousand of innocents by dropping bombs on their villages. Discuting and very hypocrit, don't you think?