It’s common knowledge that when an aircraft breaks the sound barrier, a sonic boom is generated. It has long been known that the sound associated with a sonic boom can be attenuated by varying the shape of the aircraft, but until now this had never been proven. Spaceflight Now reports that NASA and DARPA have completed tests with a modified F-5E aircraft in the SSBD project, changing the shape of the fuselage and wing to greatly reduce the loudness of the sonic boom. This is quite a breakthrough, and I can definitely see this affecting the design of future supersonic aircraft.
