That's probably because changing fuel consumption goals has absolutely nothing to do with the magnitude or propagation characteristics of an atmospheric shockwa

That's probably because changing fuel consumption goals has absolutely nothing to do with the magnitude or propagation characteristics of an atmospheric shockwave. Unless the shockwave's shape (distorting coarseness of the wave front to soften the impact of sound waves; think: tweaking the volume knob to fade-in/fade-out a noise floor with gradual easing, rather than slamming a door as hard as you can) or size (how much air gets pushed around, overall) is altered by how a moving body breaks the sound barrier, a sonic boom will still be loud, and reach just as far. When you crack a whip, the sound is just as loud, no matter how much energy your arm expends making the motion.