(Reuters) – Boeing Co-backed supersonic jet maker Aerion said on Wednesday Berkshire Hathaway’s private aircraft firm, NetJets, has obtained purchase rights to 20 of its AS2 business jets.
The AS2 will be powered by engineered synthetic fuel and can reach supersonic speeds of up to Mach 1.4, or about 1,000 miles (1,610 km) per hour, which is 150% faster than conventional business jets, Aerion said.
Production of the jets will begin in 2023 at the firm’s Aerion Park facility in Florida, with the first 300 AS2 aircraft planned for the first decade of production, the company said.
Aerion’s global order backlog for the AS2 is now valued at more than $10 billion.
The company said it will also develop a supersonic flight training academy for civil, commercial, and military supersonic aircraft in collaboration with Berkshire’s professional aviation training provider, FlightSafety International.
(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
