Lockheed's Lost Supersonic Transport: A Lesson in Ambition

The Lockheed L-2000 was America's entry in the competition to build a supersonic airliner that could outclass the Concorde.

In 1961, President Kennedy committed the U.S. government to subsidizing 75% of the development costs of an American SST to compete with the Anglo-French Concorde.

The head of the FAA, Najeeb Halaby, decided not to build a Concorde competitor but a Concorde beater, which would carry 250 passengers at Mach 2.7-3.0 over 4,000 miles.

Lockheed had been working on supersonic transports since 1958 and developed the L-2000's design to address one major problem: what happens to the centre of pressure when a wing goes supersonic.

The FAA chose Boeing's design over Lockheed's in December 1966, citing that the L-2000 was simpler to produce but less ambitious.