Bill to repeal ban of civil supersonic flight over land could open door for Boom Supersonic in Greensboro
On Monday, Sen. Ted Budd (R-North Carolina) filed the Supersonic Aviation Modernization Act, a bill that would repeal a ban on overland civil supersonic flight. The bill was co-sponsored by Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Montana).
'The race for supersonic dominance between the U.S. and China is already underway and the stakes couldn't be higher,' Budd said. 'To maintain our global leadership in aerospace innovation, we must modernize air travel by lifting the outdated ban on civil supersonic flight. The Supersonic Aviation Modernization Act paves the way to lift decades-old restrictions, allowing for faster air travel. This is a critical step to ensure America leads the next era of aviation.'
PTI congratulates Boom Supersonic on successful supersonic flight
Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) introduced a version of the bill in the House of Representatives, which was co-sponsored by Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas). The National Business Aviation Association supports both of these bills.
Boom Supersonic, which intends to build engines for its commercial supersonic jets in Greensboro, has also voiced its support for this legislation, stating that it 'supports revising this regulation to allow supersonic flight that does not create audible sonic booms and to establish a certification pathway for future low-boom aircraft.' They have also expressed their commitment to building a supersonic aircraft in the United States, as they did with their demonstrator, the XB-1, which went supersonic without a 'boom' earlier this year.
'Supersonic flight without an audible sonic boom should obviously be allowed,' Blake Scholl, Founder of Boom Supersonic, said. 'The ban on supersonic has held back progress for more than half a century. I urge Congress to pass the Supersonic Aviation Modernization Act supersonically so we can all enjoy faster flights and maintain American leadership in aviation.'
Boom is investing about $500 million to build Overture, a commercial supersonic jet, in Greensboro and, in January 2023, on a 62-acre site where its so-called 'Superfactory' is . The company, which plans to employ more than 1,700, also has an .
Boom plans to have its first passengers in the air by 2029 and will fly more than 600 'profitable routes' to destinations worldwide with a range of 4,250 nautical miles.
Boom has taken on three partners to design and build which will power the Overture, and now has partnerships with companies to provide
Another partner, Dimensional Energy, is to provide which is as being made from 'renewable biomass and waste resources,' which could be corn, algae or wood products.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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The Hill
24 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump's new model to support Ukraine is a win-win
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Business Wire
24 minutes ago
- Business Wire
Apiture Launches Real-Time Payments for Community Banks and Credit Unions
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Fox News
34 minutes ago
- Fox News
DOJ forms Russiagate 'strike force' to investigate declassified Obama-era evidence
Print Close By Brooke Singman Published July 24, 2025 The Justice Department has formed a "strike force" to assess the evidence publicized by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard relating to former President Obama and his top national security and intelligence officials' involvement in the origins of the Trump-Russia collusion narrative. The DOJ, on Wednesday evening, announced the formation of the "strike force," to investigate potential next legal steps which may stem from Gabbard's recent declassification of records suggesting that Obama administration officials "manufactured" intelligence to form the narrative that then-candidate Donald Trump was colluding with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. Justice Department officials told Fox News Digital that the DOJ takes the alleged weaponization of the intelligence community with "the utmost seriousness." 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And on Wednesday, Gabbard declassified documents that showed that the intelligence community did not have any direct information that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to help elect Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election, but, at the "unusual" direction of then-President Barack Obama, published "potentially biased" or "implausible" intelligence suggesting otherwise. That information came from a report prepared by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence back in 2020. The report, which was based on an investigation launched by former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., was dated Sept. 18, 2020. At the time of the publication of the report, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., was the chairman of the committee. The report has never before been released to the public, and instead, has remained highly classified within the intelligence community. Meanwhile, Fox News Digital, in 2020, exclusively obtained the declassified transcripts from Obama-era national security officials' closed-door testimonies before the House Intelligence Committee, in which those officials testified that they had no "empirical evidence" of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election, but continued to publicly push the "narrative" of collusion. The House Intelligence Committee, in 2017, conducted depositions of top Obama intelligence officials, including Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, National Security Advisor Susan Rice and Attorney General Loretta Lynch, among others. OBAMA DENIES TRUMP'S 'BIZARRE ALLEGATIONS' THAT HE WAS RUSSIAGATE 'RINGLEADER' IN RARE STATEMENT The officials' responses in the transcripts of those interviews align with the results of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation — which found no evidence of criminal coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia in 2016, while not reaching a determination on obstruction of justice. The transcripts, from 2017 and 2018, revealed top Obama officials were questioned by House Intelligence Committee lawmakers and investigators about whether they had or had seen evidence of such collusion, coordination or conspiracy — the issue that drove the FBI's initial case and later the special counsel probe. "I never saw any direct empirical evidence that the Trump campaign or someone in it was plotting/conspiring with the Russians to meddle with the election," Clapper testified in 2017. "That's not to say that there weren't concerns about the evidence we were seeing, anecdotal evidence.... But I do not recall any instance where I had direct evidence." Lynch also said she did "not recall that being briefed up to me." "I can't say that it existed or not," Lynch said, referring to evidence of collusion, conspiracy or coordination. But Clapper and Lynch, and then Vice President Joe Biden, were present in the Oval Office July 28, 2016, when Brennan briefed Obama and Comey on intelligence he'd received from one of Hillary Clinton's campaign foreign policy advisors "to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service." "We're getting additional insight into Russian activities from (REDACTED)," Brennan's handwritten notes, exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital in October 2020, read. "CITE (summarizing) alleged approved by Hillary Clinton a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisers to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service." Meanwhile, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, according to the transcript of her interview to the House Intelligence Committee, was asked whether she had or saw any evidence of collusion or conspiracy. OBAMA ADMIN 'MANUFACTURED' INTELLIGENCE TO CREATE 2016 RUSSIAN ELECTION INTERFERENCE NARRATIVE, DOCUMENTS SHOW Power replied: "I am not in possession of anything — I am not in possession and didn't read or absorb information that came from out of the intelligence community." When asked again, she said: "I am not." Rice was asked the same question. "To the best of my recollection, there wasn't anything smoking, but there were some things that gave me pause," she said, according to her transcribed interview, in response to whether she had any evidence of conspiracy. "I don't recall intelligence that I would consider evidence to that effect that I saw… conspiracy prior to my departure." When asked whether she had any evidence of "coordination," Rice replied: "I don't recall any intelligence or evidence to that effect." Meanwhile, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was not asked that specific question but rather questions about the accuracy and legitimacy of the unverified anti-Trump dossier compiled by ex-British intelligence officer Christopher Steele. McCabe was asked during his interview in 2017 what was the most "damning or important piece of evidence in the dossier that" he "now knows is true." McCabe replied: "We have not been able to prove the accuracy of all the information." "You don't know if it's true or not?" a House investigator asked, to which McCabe replied: "That's correct." OBAMA OFFICIALS USED DOSSIER TO PROBE, BRIEF TRUMP DESPITE KNOWING IT WAS UNVERIFIED 'INTERNET RUMOR' After Trump's 2016 victory and during the presidential transition period, Comey briefed Trump on the now-infamous anti-Trump dossier, containing salacious allegations of purported coordination between Trump and the Russian government. Brennan was present for that briefing, which took place at Trump Tower in New York City in January 2017. The dossier was authored by Steele. It was funded by Clinton's presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee through the law firm Perkins Coie. But Brennan and Comey knew of intelligence suggesting Clinton, during the campaign, was stirring up a plan to tie Trump to Russia, documents claim. It is unclear whether the intelligence community, at the time, knew that the dossier was paid for by Clinton and the DNC. The Obama-era officials have been mum on the new revelations, but a spokesman for Obama on Tuesday made a rare public statement. FBI LAUNCHES CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS OF JOHN BRENNAN, JAMES COMEY: DOJ SOURCES "Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response," Obama spokesman Patrick Rodenbush said in a statement. "But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction," Obama's spokesman continued. "Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes." He added: "These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio." Print Close URL