Flight

China Unveils Mach-4 Commercial Drone Prototype, Sets Sights on Supersonic Passenger Jet

Supersonic passenger drone by 2030

By: Nam Nguyen, Journalist

March 20, 2025

A Chinese start-up company Lingkong Tianxing Technology is designing a supersonic drone with the capability of four times the speed of sound. The company last week unveiled its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the Cuantianhou or “Soaring Stone Monkey” plane, publicly for the first time during a press conference held last week in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province in Southwest China. The project is a major push towards diverting military hypersonic technology into the commercial arena. The company is designing the drone as part of its overall push towards the manufacture of a supersonic passenger plane, the website of the Chinese online media reports. The UAV is scheduled to perform its maiden flight test next year, which marks the milestone of advancement by China towards the development and its use in the non-military sector. Lingkong Tianxing tested a model passenger plane last October 2024, which reached twice the supersonic speed of the Concorde.

Supersonic tech advancements

Historically used in military applications, hypothetical supersonic technology is now being more intuitively used for the commercial market. Just such efforts are being made worldwide; U.S. and Swiss start-ups undertake comparable breakthroughs, America developing Mach 5 targets and Switzerland exploring hydrogen propulsion. As reported by SCMP, however, no commercially viable product has yet arisen, and some have seen major setbacks. This Chinese drone and its counterpart restate increasing international competition in the field of hypersonic technology that intermingles efforts to couple military and civilian applications. In October, Lingkong Tianxing Technology tested a prototype commercial aircraft which approved nearly doubled Concorde’s speed.

PROGRESS

Chinese state-owned enterprise Lingkong Tianxing is continuing to make strides towards the development of supersonic aircraft. They completed the Yunxing aircraft test in October, testing steering, heat, and airflow, and advanced its overall UAV flight to 2026 from 2027 with its quick development. Their Cuantianhou drone is sleeker and accelerated to Mach 3.3 to 4.1, reaching 6.21 miles (10 kilometers) high on 13.2 pounds (6 kilograms) of fuel for 31 miles (50 kilometers) with the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reporting. They also revealed the lighter 100-kilogram and more powerful 4,000-Newton thrust Jindou-400S engine with Mach 4.2. With 88 test flights in six years, supercomuting, and 3D printing, quieter, stronger, and intelligent supersonic commercial aircraft are soon to arrive, the company asserts.