Engineering news
Airbus Helicopters is to participate in government-led research projects for the first time, as it looks to increase its industrial presence in the UK.
The French-based maker of civilian and military rotorcraft will play a role in two separate projects: one supported by the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) and the other through Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI).
The £2 million ATI project will see Airbus working with Cranfield University, BHR Group and condition monitoring specialist Helitune to develop a tool to allow engineers to measure blade deformations during flight tests. The project will have a major impact on flight safety, operations and maintenance, and will contribute towards reductions in point-to-point travel time, said the partners.
The second project, worth £1.2 million and supported by the AMSCI, will see Airbus partner with project lead NetComposites under the Dual Use Technology Exploitation cluster to develop and produce lower weight, lower cost helicopter armour at an increased rate and enable more flexibility in military helicopter design. This project will help bring maturity to existing technologies, shortening the time to market from up to 15 years down to three, said Airbus.
Colin James, managing director for Airbus Helicopters in the UK, said: “Unlike the rest of Airbus Group which has a balance of core business activities spanning France, Germany, Spain and the UK, Airbus Helicopters still has, by comparison, an underdeveloped industrial presence in Britain and we mean to change this.”
Gary Elliott, chief executive officer of the ATI, added: “The UK blade research programme with Airbus Helicopters is a good example of how a major global prime can be attracted to locate its R&D in the UK because of the strength of our research centres, supply chain and the government’s support for innovation.”