The Forgotten Supersonic Jet That Wasn’t the Concorde
The Tupolev Tu-144: Faster, Louder, and Doomed to Fail
When people talk about supersonic passenger jets, one name almost always steals the spotlight: the Concorde.
But what if we told you that another jet beat the Concorde to its first supersonic flight?
Enter the Tupolev Tu-144, the Soviet Union’s sleek, powerful answer to Western aviation.
It was the first supersonic airliner to take flight, and yet, today it’s barely a footnote in history.
The Soviet Concorde?
Developed in the heat of the Cold War, the Tu-144 looked strikingly similar to the Concorde:
Delta wing
Needle-like nose
Twin-engine nacelles
Supersonic speeds topping Mach 2.0
Western journalists quickly nicknamed it the “Concordski” a jab at its familiar silhouette.
The Tu-144 was no copy-paste job. It was developed by the legendary Tupolev Design Bureau and marked a technical feat for the USSR.
In fact, it was the first passenger aircraft in the world to fly faster than the speed of sound, taking its maiden flight on December 31, 1968—two months before the Concorde.
It Flew First. So What Went Wrong?
Despite its head start and record-breaking stats, the Tu-144’s fate was sealed by a series of design flaws, accidents, and political pressure.
Key issues included:
Engine inefficiency: It burned fuel at an unsustainable rate, especially during subsonic flight.
Noise and vibration: The Tu-144 was notoriously loud and uncomfortable inside.
Range limitations: It couldn’t fly long-haul routes without excessive fuel stops.
Reliability: Its systems were prone to failure, and maintenance was complex.
Worst of all, the Tu-144 suffered a catastrophic crash at the 1973 Paris Air Show, killing six crew members and eight people on the ground. The footage shocked the aviation world and severely damaged the aircraft’s reputation.
Short-Lived Service
After years of testing and redesign, the Tu-144 finally entered limited commercial service with Aeroflot in 1977. But it only flew passengers for just over six months.
Only 55 scheduled flights carried passengers
Most flights were reserved for mail and cargo
By 1978, the Tu-144 was permanently grounded for passenger service
In total, only 16 aircraft were built, compared to 20 Concordes, and only a handful ever flew commercially.
The Afterlife
Interestingly, the story doesn’t end there. In the 1990s, NASA partnered with Russian engineers to use the Tu-144 as a supersonic test platform.
They modified the aircraft into the Tu-144LL (LL = Flying Laboratory) to study high-speed flight and develop next-generation SST technology.
Why the Concorde Lived On (and the Tu-144 Didn’t)
Both the Concorde and Tu-144 were elite, expensive, and flawed. But the Concorde:
Had safer, smoother performance
Gained cultural cachet as a luxury icon
Was better supported by Western airlines
Enjoyed a much longer service life (1976–2003)
TL;DR: The Supersonic Jet History Forgot
The Tupolev Tu-144 was faster than the Concorde, first to break the sound barrier, and doomed by design and politics.
It was a marvel of Soviet ambition, a feat of speed, and a cautionary tale in aviation history.
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The Tupolev Tu-144: The Forgotten Supersonic Jet That Beat the Concorde
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Meet the Tupolev Tu-144, the world’s first supersonic airliner. Discover how it beat the Concorde to the skies—then crashed into obscurity just months later.
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