Concept drawing of the X-59 supersonic aircraft. Source: Collins Aerospace

Collins Aerospace has been selected by Lockheed Martin to provide avionics for the X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft.

The X-59 is being developed by Lockheed Martin for NASA to collect data that could make supersonic commercial travel over land possible through low sonic boom technology. Collins Aerospace is a business unit of United Technologies Corp.

Collins will provide developmental engineering support to adapt its Pro Line Fusion avionics to the X-59. The avionics include primary flight displays with multi-function windows, head-up display symbology, synthetic vision, ARC-210 communication radios and a suite of navigation and surveillance equipment. Lockheed Martin will host a system integration lab for the avionics at its facility in Palmdale, California.

In addition, Collins will provide a dual multi-spectral enhanced vision system (EVS-3600). It said that in order to achieve supersonic speeds with a low sonic boom signature, the X-59 must have a long and slender shape. This shape also makes a forward-looking window impractical. The EVS-3600 is intended to enable pilots to land in nearly all conditions using visual sensors leveraging longwave, infrared technology.

The X-59 could take its first flight in 2021 and is designed to create a sound about as loud as a car door closing. It will be used to collect data on the acceptability of the quiet sonic boom generated by the aircraft, helping NASA establish an acceptable commercial supersonic noise standard. Current regulations ban supersonic travel over land.