Russian Epsylon Supersonic Business Jet Concept Proposes Mach 3 Speed, Variable-Sweep Wings and 20-Seat Reconfigurable Cabin

Epsylon is a Russian supersonic business jet concept that pairs variable-sweep wings with a luxury cabin. It was designed by Filipp Avakyan of the St. Petersburg-based Asgard design agency and began as a master's degree project, with aerodynamic consultation from Mikhail Lebedev of Baltic State Technical University.

The concept proposes a top speed of Mach 3, roughly 2,300 mph, against Mach 0.95 for the Bombardier Global 8000, described as the world's fastest business jet, and Mach 2 for the Concorde. The estimated range is 12,000 km (about 7,500 miles). At that speed the jet could theoretically cover the 3,450-mile New York–London route in around 90 minutes, versus roughly seven hours on a conventional commercial flight, and Miami to San Francisco in a little over an hour.

The wings would sit in a less-swept position for take-off and landing and move backwards for supersonic cruise, an arrangement reminiscent of military aircraft such as the F-14 Tomcat. Two rear-mounted engines appear in the renderings.

The published floor plan shows 20 individual passenger chairs, though this is not an officially confirmed maximum capacity, plus two cockpit positions and four seats for personnel. The chairs would be mounted on pedestals that rotate 360 degrees and slide along a horizontal axis, with folding tables and upright privacy panels.

Movable partitions with LED panels would run along floor guides to separate or open up areas. The layout also includes a dedicated conference room with opposing benches and a central table, a lounge with sofas, chairs and a bar, and a shower and toilet compartment.

The proposed fuselage measures about 25.8 metres in cabin length, 6.2 metres in width and 5.4 metres in height. Epsylon remains a design concept, with no confirmed manufacturer, engine specifications, price, cruising speed, range or first-flight schedule.

Supersonic business-jet concepts tend to circulate widely because speed figures translate into striking trip times, but the economics of the segment are settled elsewhere: by whether a named manufacturer commits capital, whether a powerplant exists that can sustain the claimed cruise, and whether regulators will permit the flight profile over land and near airports. Epsylon, as a student-origin design study, sits at the start of that chain, not inside it.

The cabin plan is worth reading for what it signals about positioning. A reconfigurable 20-chair layout with a conference room, lounge and shower points toward a small-airliner or VIP-transport mission rather than the typical 8-to-19-seat business-jet footprint, which widens the gap between the concept and any operator profile that exists today.

The markers that would turn this from imagery into a programme are concrete ones: an engine partner, a manufacturer, a price and a first-flight schedule. Until at least one of those is named, the Mach 3 and 12,000 km figures describe an intention, not a performance claim.