Aerospace industry receives boost

Business Minister, Anna Soubry, yesterday opened new state-of-art research facilities in Coventry and unveiled new technology projects to maintain the UK’s place as a world leader in aerospace.

The four projects announced are to be funded by a joint government and industry £2.1Bn investment for aerospace research and development, guided by the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI). The projects include £7.2M for Airbus to research ways to remove imperfection on the surface of wings, which can result in drag, creating ‘slippery wings’.

Pioneering technologies such as the Internet of Things being applied to aircraft factory production, will also be researched with £5M to be given to five partners, led by Meggit.

£6.4M will be provided to Spirit AeroSystems, the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and Aeromet to research advanced automated assembly technologies to increase the cost competitiveness of the UK supply chain.

UTC Aerospace Systems, working with the ARMC, will supported to the tune of £4.4M to set up production lines to manufacture high volume, low cost advanced composite products.

The Minister made the announcements whilst opening the Aerospace Research Centre and National Centre for Net Shape and Additive Manufacturing, more commonly known as 3D printing. The aerospace centre will allow companies to develop new materials for use in planes, jet engines and civil helicopters.. The £D printing centre will help to create new products for aero-engines and aircraft landing gear, as well as automotive and medical devices.

Gary Elliott, Chief Executive of the ATI said: “Seeing the Aerospace Research Centre open and the launch of projects involving companies from within the heart of the supply chain are good examples of the collaboration between government and industry creating a more competitive sector of enriched capabilities and increased productivity. The ATI’s focus on technologies and manufacturing is ensuring investments are focused and economically sound.”

Also announced was the launch of the HITEA 3 (Highly Innovative Technology Enablers in Aerospace 3) £10M competition to find ground breaking aerospace technologies, aimed at small and medium sized enterprise, academia and research organisations. The bidding for this is due to open next week and will be organised by Innovate UK.

Anna Soubry commented: “Government and industry are working together to keep Britain at the forefront of the global aerospace market. We are currently second only to the United States, but there is more to do and it is important that we continue to invest in R&D and develop ground-breaking technologies.
“Demand for new aircraft is at record levels – around 45,000 new aircraft and 40,000 helicopters are needed between now and 2032, worth over $5 trillion. This will provide billions of pounds of work to the UK economy given our leading capability in wings, engines, helicopters, advanced systems and services.
“Getting this right will deliver economic benefit through our large, mid-sized and small companies across the breadth of the country.”

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