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A fighter plane's engines roar as it prepares to take off with a groundcrew membrer in the foreground on a U.S. aircraft carrier at night.

Why are fighter planes so loud?

Aeorspace engineering students work with Navy to dampen jet engine noise

headshot of Michael Miller By Michael Miller 513-556-6757
2 minute read February 24, 2025

SlashGear talked to a University of Cincinnati aerospace engineering professor about his efforts to dampen the noise of jet engines. The story was republished in MSN.

UC College of Engineering and Applied Science Distinguished Research Professor Ephraim Gutmark and his aerospace engineering students are developing new technology to reduce the noise of jet engines without harming performance.

Portrait of Ephraim Gutmark sitting at a table.

Ephraim Gutmark.

Hearing loss and tinnitus are the leading causes of military disability claims, affecting more than 3.6 million former service members, according to numbers from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 

The VA is the biggest employer of audiologists and speech language pathologists in the United States to treat military veterans whose hearing was damaged during their service.

Aerospace engineers at the University of Cincinnati and the Naval Research Laboratory have come up with a new nozzle design for F-18 fighter planes they hope will dampen the deafening roar of the engines without hindering performance.

But noise also limits the siting, expansion and operation of commercial and military airports.

“The main purpose is to reduce the impact on neighboring communities,“ Gutmark told SlashGear. 

“The Navy had a big lawsuit in Norfolk, Virginia, from people who lived near the base and complained about hearing problems, sleeping problems and the diminished value of their properties. So the military has to limit its operations and stop operating at certain times of day. It's a severe problem.“

Read the SlashGear story.

Featured image at top: An F/A-18 Super Hornet's afterburners roar prior to launch aboard the USS Kitty Hawk. Photo/ Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Bo Flannigan

UC aerospace engineering professor Ephraim Gutmark and his students are designing quieter jet engines in his lab. The U.S. Navy will test his designs on an F-18 fighter plane in October at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

Aerospace engineering students use lasers to study the flow of jet engines in Distinguished Research Professor Ephraim Gutmark's lab. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand

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