Flight International - 04

FlightGlobal.com April 2023

New Rolls-Royce chief

slams shortcomings p28

eVTOL developers face

Olympian challenge p66

Emission

possible?

Boeing sets

Super Hornet

end date

Universal Hydrogen leads

dash to clean up aviation p12

SuperJet bet

UAE plots

shock return

for SSJ100

p37

Fighting chance

Ukraine urges

West to equip

its air force

p72

£5.99

Comment

The other sort of turbine

John Kelly/Shutterstock

An element of doubt

No-one disputes the technical feasibility of hydrogen- or

SAF-powered commercial aircraft, but quite where these

next-generation fuels will come from is an open question

Increasingly, it seems to be a

matter of when, not if, a hydrogenpowered

passenger aircraft will

enter service.

Universal Hydrogen and ZeroAvia

are both – to a greater or lesser

extent – proving the technical

feasibility of fuel cell powertrains,

having already put their modified

aircraft into flight test.

A slew of other manufacturers

and suppliers, Airbus among them,

are also pushing hard to adapt the

technology for aerospace.

It is worth emphasising that it is

a case of adaptation not full-scale

development; fuel cells are already

deployed in other industries, albeit

those without aviation’s particular

combination of weight, size and

safety constraints.

Those factors, and the thorny

issue of obtaining certification,

still pose significant hurdles to any

commercial roll-out.

Yes, they are likely to be overcome,

but as yet it is unclear at

what cost this will be to vital operational

and commercial parameters

such as payload and range. As

such, how many fuel cell-powered

aircraft will enter service, and how

soon, remain open questions.

But if technical constraints are

less likely to be the factors limiting

hydrogen’s adoption, then the

availability of the fuel itself will.

Or rather, access to so-called

green hydrogen will be key if

aviation is truly to achieve the goal

of emissions-free flight.

That is both from an infrastructural

perspective – is there a distribution

network? Do airports have

sufficient refuelling capabilities

and capacity? – and a production

standpoint. Who, exactly, will produce

the fuel? And where?

As a recent report, Net zero aviation

fuels: resource requirements

and environmental impacts, from

London-based scientific body the

Royal Society points out, producing

sufficient green hydrogen to

meet the UK’s net-zero ambitions

alone would require up to 3.4 times

the country’s 2020 renewable energy

generation capacity.

Consider too that aviation will be

in competition with other industries

for green hydrogen and the scale

of the problem becomes clear.

The industry’s other great green

hope – sustainable aviation fuel

(SAF) – faces a similar problem if it

is to scale up capacity sufficiently.

The same Royal Society study

calculates that if energy crops

were used to produce SAF, then

more than 50% of the UK’s agricultural

land would need to be turned

over to their cultivation.

On the other hand, if synthetic

SAF becomes the goal, then the UK

must grow its renewable generation

capacity by five to eight times.

And given that green hydrogen

is a vital component of synthetic

SAF, the demand for resources

only increases.

Now, extrapolate those figures

globally and the scale of the problem

becomes clear.

What is also evident is that

aviation alone cannot resolve these

issues. Political commitments to

decarbonisation are a vital push

towards a greener future; but without

concomitant financial support

to achieve those goals, the new

dash for gas could prove little more

than hot air. ◗

See p12, 60

April 2023 Flight International 3

In focus

Riyadh’s fleet investment 6

F-35 delivery pause ends 8

Is industry set for Universal

shift? 12

RAAF launches search

for Hawk successor 16

Are airlines better together? 24

Volocopter’s upward move 26

New Rolls-Royce chief tears

into underperformance 28

NATO spins up next-gen

rotorcraft programme 30

Super Hornet facing 2025

production end 34

UAE bankrolls the return

of SuperJet International 37

Geese trials for fello’fly pair 40

USAF’s autonomous airlifters 42

72

Wings of freedom

Could F-16s see battle in Ukraine?

FlightGlobal.com April 2023

50

New Rolls-Royce chief

slams shortcomings p28

eVTOL developers face

Olympian challenge p66

Universal Hydrogen

Emission

possible?

Universal Hydrogen leads

dash to clean up aviation p12

SuperJet bet

UAE plots

shock return

for SSJ100

p37

Boeing sets

Super Hornet

end date

Fighting chance

Ukraine urges

West to equip

its air force

p72

£5.99

Regulars Comment 3 Best of the rest 46 Straight & Level 78 Jobs 81 Women in aviation 82

4 Flight International April 2023

Contents

In depth

Carbon problem 50

Waking up to the profound

influence climate change

will have on warfare

Slow turn 55

Defence sector is beginning

to mitigate its emissions

Drop-in options 60

Increasing sustainable fuel use

relies on regulatory approvals

and the viability of aircraft

Quick wins 64

Small efficiency steps are

adding up to deliver change

Golden future 66

A new age of advanced air

mobility could be within reach

Flights of fancy? 72

Ukraine tells NATO nations

that donated Western fighters

would give Kyiv a decisive edge

66

37

55


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Riyadh launches

major fleet investment

Saudi Arabia’s government has announced plans to order up

to 121 787s for use by flag carrier Saudia and newly-launched

operator Riyadh Air, as it targets massive growth in travel

Boeing

Graham Dunn London

Any questions about the

ambitions of Saudi Arabia’s

newly-established

Riyadh-based national

airline were quickly answered by

an opening fleet commitment for

up to 72 Boeing 787-9s, while established

carrier Saudia also is to

significantly boost its fleet via a

separate Dreamliner purchase.

Announcement of the planned

Riyadh Air order came just two

days after the new carrier had been

formally revealed, including confirmation

that the airline will be led

by former Etihad Airways group

chief executive Tony Douglas, who

stepped down from the Abu Dhabi

carrier last year.

The new airline project is being

developed on behalf of the government

by the Saudi Arabian Public

Investment Fund (PIF).

“Establishment of the airline

is aligned with [our] mandate

to further enable the aviation

ecosystem in Saudi Arabia,” says the

fund, of which the carrier will be a

wholly-owned subsidiary. It expects

the new airline to bring $20 billion

in GDP growth to the kingdom and

create over 200,000 jobs.

Riyadh Air will operate from a

hub in the Saudi capital with a network

expanding to more than 100

destinations by 2030. An initial

fleet plan foresees the purchase of

39 787-9s, with first deliveries set

for early 2025. It also holds options

for a further 33 Dreamliners.

Global connector

Douglas says: “By positioning the

airline as both a global connector

and as a vehicle to drive tourist

and business travel to Saudi

Arabia, our new 787-9 airplanes

will serve as a foundation for our

worldwide operations.”

He is joined in the airline’s management

team by former Malaysia

Airlines chief executive and Easy-

Jet chief operating officer Peter

Bellew, who has taken the latter

role at Riyadh Air.

Etihad Airways

The airline has yet to set a launch

date or detail its network, but Riyadh

Air – as its branding suggests

– will operate from the Saudi capital.

King Khalid airport in Riyadh is

itself set to undergo expansion and

be transformed into King Salman

airport, plans for which envisage

it being developed to handle up to

120 million passengers annually by

the end of the decade.

Saudi Arabia’s existing national

carrier Saudia has its main base


Airlines Orders

located in Jeddah, but also has a

sizeable operation out of Riyadh.

It is unclear how this network

will be impacted by its new sister

airline, but the Saudi government’s

continued backing is clear after

Saudia also announced plans to

order more Dreamliners.

Further options

The airline already operates 13 787-

9s and five 787-10s – and had three

more on order. It plans to take 39

more Dreamliners, and options on

10 more. These will again be split

across the -9 and -10 models.

If all options for both national

carriers are firmed, the combined

total commitment for 121 widebodies

would be the fifth largest

commercial order for Boeing by

value. The US airframer says both

purchase agreements will be added

to its backlog once finalised.

The aircraft orders and launch

of Riyadh Air form part of Saudi

Arabia’s wider ambitions to develop

its aviation and tourism sector

under its Vision 2030 strategy.

That programme outlines plans to

create a new global aviation hub in

the country – which would pitch it

against the operations of regional

rivals Emirates and Qatar Airways

– via the tripling of passenger

numbers by 2030.

“We forecast to fly more than

330 million passengers in 2030 and

5 million tonnes of freight, establishing

connections to more than

250 destinations,” Saudi minister

for transport Saleh bin Nasser

Al-Jasser said in May 2022, outlining

a government plan to drive

more than $100 billion of public

and private investment into the

country’s aviation sector over the

rest of the decade.

That plan also included the

creation of a new aircraft lessor,

AviLease, which has since carried

out its first deliveries, handing a

pair of Airbus A320neos to local

low-cost unit Flynas.

It has also seen foreign airlines

establish a foothold in the market.

European low-cost carrier Wizz Air

notably embarked on an expansion

into the country, launching a number

of routes beween Europe and

Saudi Arabia.

Kuwaiti budget carrier Jazeera

Airways has also now disclosed

preliminary steps to establish a

$20bn

GDP growth Saudi Arabian Public

Investment Fund expects Riyadh Air

to produce, along with 200,000 jobs

new operator in Saudi Arabia. Jazeera,

which will work with Saudi

partners to create the new airline,

says the intended low-cost carrier

would be based at Dammam’s King

Fahad airport. Dammam is the next

largest city in the kingdom outside

the holy sites of Mecca and Medina.

Saudi Arabia already has its own

low-cost carriers, in the shape of

Flynas’s operations from Riyadh

and Saudia unit Flyadeal’s from

Jeddah. Between them, the operators

have 68 A320/neo single-aisles

in use, Cirium fleets data shows.

In a separate development also

linked to Riyadh’s Vision 2030

“By positioning the airline as both

a global connector and as a vehicle

to drive tourist and business travel

to Saudi Arabia, our new 787-9

airplanes will serve as a foundation

for our worldwide operations”

Tony Douglas Chief executive, Riyadh Air

Saudia fleet

A320/321 52

A330-300 30

747-400 4

777-200/300 39

787-9/10 18 42+10*

Total 143 42+10*

Source: Cirium fleets data Note *Option

programme, UK defence secretary

Ben Wallace in early March signed

an agreement with his Saudi counterpart

Prince Khalid bin Salman

to “initiate a partnering feasibility

study to explore how we can best

position our decades-long combat

air relationship for the future”.

“Both governments confirmed a

common desire for closer industrial

collaboration, to develop key

capabilities and boost prosperity

in both nations,” the UK Ministry of

Defence says.

The proposed collaboration will

be conducted in isolation from the

Global Combat Air Programme

launched by the UK last year, in

partnership with Italy and Japan.

Rotary-wing lift

Meanwhile, the kingdom is also

making strides in rotary-wing

aviation. PIF-owned operator

The Helicopter Company last

year announced the acquisition

of a controlling stake in Leonardo

Helicopters dealership Rotortrade,

alongside the purchase of

a combined 42 units from that

manufacturer (16 AW139s) and Airbus

Helicopters (20 H145s and six

corporate-roled ACH160s).

At the Heli-Expo event in early

March, Rotortrade unveiled a slew

of agreements – with Bell, Bristow

Group and Milestone Aviation – covering

the acquisition and disposal of

helicopters as the company repositions

itself in the market.

THC also agreed to purchase six

AW139s, plus 20 options, for search

and rescue missions in the kingdom.

It has, meanwhile, received

the first of its ACH160s and upped

its firm order for the new-generation

type to 10 units. ◗

Additional reporting by

Dominic Perry in Atlanta


Programme Recovery

US Marine Corps

Flaw was identified in wake of a

crash involving STOVL variant

Engine fix ends F-35 delivery pause

Ten-week suspension of stealth fighter shipments is brought

to an end after Pratt & Whitney resolves vibration issue

Ryan Finnerty Tampa

The US Department of Defense

(DoD) has cleared

the resumption of Lockheed

Martin F-35 deliveries, which

had been on pause after a non- fatal

accident involving the type.

“[We] are currently working with

the US services, partner nations

and Foreign Military Sales customers

on the movement of aircraft to

their operational units,” the Pentagon’s

F-35 Joint Program Office

(JPO) said on 14 March.

The operational use of all F-35s

received approval from the DoD

after “extensive technical and

flightworthy checks”, it adds.

Acceptance of new-build aircraft

had been placed on hold after a

short take-off and vertical landing

(STOVL) F-35B crashed during a

test flight at Lockheed’s Fort Worth

site in Texas last December.

The DoD and Lockheed subsequently

grounded all F-35s with

less than 40h of operational use

and halted new deliveries.

F135 engine supplier Pratt & Whitney

(P&W) traced the mishap to a

“harmonic resonance”, or vibration

issue. Jennifer Latka, its vice-president

of F135 programmes, says the

issue occurs at “a certain frequency

and certain amplitude” when multiple

parameters converge to create

a “very rare systems phenomenon”.

Having identified the cause in

February, P&W developed a “mitigation

measure”, enabling it to

resume F135 deliveries, and production

flight operations at Fort

Worth to begin again on 6 March.

The DoD has ordered a fleetwide

modification, which the JPO

says involves an “inexpensive, nonintrusive”

retrofit which can be performed

at operational units in 4-8h.

Lockheed notes that it continued

producing jets during the 10-week

flight pause, and says the disruption

will not prevent it from meeting

contracted delivery obligations.

The airframer last year missed its

F-35 delivery target by seven jets,

which chief financial officer Jay

Malave attributes to the temporary

delivery suspension. Having handed

over 141 of the aircraft in 2022, it this

year plans to transfer 156 examples.

Propulsion upgrade

Meanwhile, the US Air Force

(USAF) has supported upgrading

the current propulsion system on

its F-35As, rather than purchasing

a replacement engine.

Announced by secretary of the air

force Frank Kendall on 13 March, the

decision came as the Biden administration

released its proposal for

military spending in fiscal year 2024

without funds for the Adaptive

Engine Transition Program (AETP).

“[AETP] is not transitioning to a

programme of record,” the USAF

confirms. Under the effort, the service

in 2016 began funding development

of a new engine for the

F-35, centred on an adaptive-cycle

design capable of boosting electrical

power generation and thrust.

The service spent some $4 billion

on the effort, with both P&W and GE

Aerospace producing prototypes.

GE had urged the USAF to adopt

its XA100 design, while P&W –

despite developing an XA101 prototype

– instead promoted a third

option: an engine core upgrade

(ECU) for the F135.

A major factor behind the air

force’s decision appears to have

been the AETP engines’ lack of

suitability for programme-wide integration,

specifically on the F-35B.

“Although the results of analyses

determined AETP provided

the best overall F-35A operational

performance, the F135 engine core

upgrade will restore engine life and

prevent degradation for all three

F-35 variants at the lowest cost,”

the service tells FlightGlobal.

“We can deliver upgraded engines

starting in 2028,” says Jill Albertelli,

president of P&W’s military engines

division. “The F135 ECU saves billions,

which ensures a record quantity

of F-35s can be procured.”

GE has criticised the decision.

“This [FY2024] budget fails to

consider rising geopolitical tensions

and the need for revolutionary

capabilities that only the XA100

engine can provide by 2028,” it says.

The USAF’s preference is no

guarantee, however, with lawmakers

to have the final say.

“Nearly 50 bipartisan members

of Congress wrote in support of

advanced engine programmes like

ours because they recognise these

needs,” GE says. ◗


Rotorcraft Development

Kopter targets 100 year-end sales

Swiss-based Leonardo subsidiary nears key milestones for

light-single, as it aims for certification in second half of 2024

Dominic Perry Atlanta

Leonardo Helicopters is

confident it will reach the

100- order milestone for the

Kopter AW09 by end-2023

as it bids to secure the light-single’s

first three years of production.

It has gained “north of 50” deposit-backed

preliminary sales contracts

and expects this to reach 60

“before summer”, says Emilio Dalmasso,

senior vice-president of new

products business development.

“We should be able to get something

like 100 orders before the end

of the year and possibly 200 before

certification, which is forecast for

the second half of 2024,” he says.

At its planned initial final assembly

rate, 100 aircraft would equate

to three years of production,

Dal masso said, speaking at the

Heli- Expo show in Atlanta.

He anticipates service entry for

an initial batch of three of the €3.7

million ($3.9 million) AW09s in late

2024, with deliveries accelerating

the following year.

As Flight International went to

press, Kopter was due to fly the

fourth pre-serial aircraft (PS4)

– the first to be powered by the

Safran Helicopter Engines Arriel

2K turbo shaft – having completed

the necessary ground runs and obtained

permits to fly, says Michele

Kopter

Riccobono, the manufacturer’s

chief technology officer.

Kopter in January announced

that it had dropped the AW09’s

original Honeywell HTS900 powerplant

in favour of the Safran unit –

a project that took nine-months to

complete, Riccobono says.

Redesign of the engine deck was

required to integrate the longer

Arriel engine, he says, alongside

the production and assembly of

new parts.

Aircraft PS4 incorporates other

enhancements validated on earlier

prototypes, including new main

rotor blades with a reshaped aerofoil

and wider chord, additional

skid gear fairings, a new fin and

Test asset PS4 is first AW09 to be

powered by the Arriel 2K turbo shaft

horizontal stabiliser, and a more

aero dynamic upper fuselage cowling.

The modifications have “really

improved the stability and handling

qualities”, Riccobono adds.

PS4 will be the programme’s

main certification test asset but will

be joined this year by aircraft PS5,

which will later also serve as a customer

demonstrator, Dalmasso says.

Meanwhile, Kopter continues to

eye the potential for the addition

of a hybrid-electric system on the

AW09. In a first step, this would

use a battery pack and electric

motor to provide sufficient power

to enable a safe landing in case of

failure of the thermal engine. ◗

See p22

Sikorsky and GE Aerospace outline HEX appeal

Sikorsky and GE Aerospace have

teamed up to develop a new

hybrid-electric demonstrator –

dubbed HEX – which could be

flying as early as 2026.

Disclosed at the Heli-Expo show,

the development will see the US

propulsion specialist supply a CT7

turboshaft engine, 1MW generator

and associated power electronics

for the project.

Paul Lemmo, Sikorsky

president, says the 3,200-

3,600kg (7,000-8,000lb)

maximum gross weight vehicle

will be equipped with the

company’s Matrix technology,

enabling it to fly autonomously.

He sees applications for the

new powertrain in both civil and

military markets, and has begun

briefing potential customers on

the development.

Igor Cherepinsky, director of

Sikorsky innovations, declines to

disclose the architecture of the

demonstrator but says it is “not a

conventional rotorcraft”.

Cherepinsky says the hybridelectric

powertrain would in future

probably be applied to heavier

heli copters – Sikorsky’s traditional

“sweet spot” – but adds that “we

didn’t want to start there”.

A hybrid-electric system

would allow the power train to

be optimised for different flight

phases, he says.

The system will include a battery

pack, potentially offering a source

of emergency power for a larger

single-engined platform in future.


Airframer Programmes

Project has moved into Phase 1B after

agreement between governments

Dassault Aviation

Acceptance of

Dassault lead role essential

to FCAS survival, says Trappier

Tri-national future fighter will proceed with French airframer

in charge, but chief executive believes challenges remain

Murdo Morrison Paris

Airbus’s acceptance of Dassault’s

lead role in the

critical next phase of the

Franco-German-Spanish

Future Combat Air System (FCAS)

programme was essential to the

effort to develop a sixth-generation

fighter, says the French airframer’s

chief executive, Eric Trappier.

However, he warns that challenges

remain between the partners, after

the three governments agreed

in December to proceed with the

€3.2 billion ($3.4 billion) Phase 1B.

This will see Dassault overseeing

the development of a manned Next

Generation Fighter (NGF) concept,

along with Airbus Defence & Space,

Indra of Spain and engine consortium

EUMET, comprising ITP Aero,

MTU Aero Engines, and Safran.

“The question of who is in charge

has been resolved, but the question

of whether it will work is still not resolved,”

he told FlightGlobal in an

interview following Dassault’s annual

results presentation on 9 March.

“The key question when you are

developing a new product like

this is that you need an architect,

an organiser,” he says, referring to

the long-running dispute between

Airbus and Dassault over whether

they could share the prime role.

“If you have some kind of

co- development, it doesn’t mean

any thing,” Trappier says. “At the

end, it is not about how many jobs

can be created in one country, but

the ability to deliver on time, and

on budget.”

He says Dassault is assembling

the first teams of engineers for

the programme and they will start

work at its St Cloud headquarters

“within weeks”.

It comes as Dassault rides high on

the back of record orders in 2022

and its largest backlog for Rafale

fighters and Falcon business jets.

The company secured commitments

for 156 aircraft, including 92

Rafales for export. The bulk of this

was a deal for 80 examples to the

United Arab Emirates, its seventh

export customer. This has boosted

the backlog for the fighter from

86 to 164 aircraft, 125 of which are

destined for overseas.

Domestic delivery

Dassault delivered 14 Rafales in

2022, including to Greece, India

and Qatar, down on 2021’s total

of 25. Last year also saw the first

shipment to France after a fouryear

hiatus for budgetary reasons.

In 2023, the domestic customer

is expected to take a further 13

examples and order an additional

42 Tranche 5 aircraft.

Indonesia in 2022 placed a firm

commitment for six Rafales and is

expected to order an additional 36

units in the coming months.

Trappier says future prospective

customers for the Rafale include

Colombia and the Indian navy – the

latter country’s air force already

flies the type.

Meanwhile, Trappier believes

Dassault can achieve its production

target for business jets in 2023,

despite continuing intense pressure

on the supply chain.

Trappier refuses to be more specific

about the previously stated

“mid-year” service-entry date for

the latest Falcon 6X twinjet, saying

certification is now in the hands

of the European Union Aviation

Safety Agency, and “we will have

to see if they sign it off in the next

few weeks”.

Dassault has completed a flighttest

campaign for the 5,500nm

(10,200km)-range type, with three

examples having made more than

400 sorties. The first customer

aircraft is having its cabin completion

carried out at Dassault’s Little

Rock facility in Arkansas.

Trappier says the situation for

aerospace suppliers “remains

tough” in 2023, with skilled labour

shortages the “number one

concern” alongside rising energy

and raw materials costs.

Commercial airframers increasing

production is also a challenge,

as Dassault shares a large number

of suppliers with Airbus in particular.

Although orders “are good for

everyone at the moment”, Trappier

maintains that ensuring an

on-time delivery of parts remains

his biggest headache. “Every day

brings a new problem,” he says.

Last year, Dassault delivered 32

Falcons, two more than the previous

year. Order intake rose from

51 in 2021 to 64, increasing the

backlog from 55 to 87 examples,

net of cancelled Russian aircraft,

which represented between 10%

and 15% of the previous backlog,

according to Trappier.

Dassault is pitching for a late

2025 in-service date for its other

in-development Falcon, the

7,500nm-range 10X, which entered

its “production phase” in the third

quarter of 2022. Trappier will not

reveal a target for first flight. “We

have a date in mind,” he says. ◗



Company hails the 15min debut

sortie as a major milestone

Universal Hydrogen

Is industry set for Universal shift?

Test using partially hydrogen-powered Dash 8 could mean the

dawn of a new ‘golden age’ for aviation, says zero-emissions

pioneer, with operational introduction possible by 2025

Howard Hardee Moses Lake

The first flight of a De Havilland

Canada Dash 8-300

powered partly by a hydrogen

fuel cell propulsion system

is just the beginning of startup

Universal Hydrogen’s strategy

to decarbonise airline travel.

Completed amid much fanfare

on 2 March before journalists and

potential investors, the roughly

15min flight from Moses Lake in

Washington was a major milestone

in the eyes of Universal Hydrogen

co-founder and chief executive

Paul Eremenko, who toasted “a new

golden age of aviation”.

“I am beside myself with jubilation,”

Eremenko says. “It’s a big deal.

I couldn’t wish for a better day.”

Touted by Universal Hydrogen as

“by far the largest fuel cell-powered

airplane ever to fly”, the retrofitted

Dash 8 performed a climbing turn

and two flyovers of Grant County

International airport. On the second

fly-by, its left-hand Pratt &

Whitney Canada PW123 turboprop

engine was throttled back, letting

it fly principally on thrust from its

right-hand electric powerplant.

The event marks the latest

accomplishment in the field of

hydrogen-powered aviation. In January,

hydrogen-electric powertrain

developer ZeroAvia completed the

first flight of a Dornier 228 converted

to run partly on hydrogen fuel

cells, with the aircraft conducting a

10min flight from Kemble airfield in

southwest England.

Significant hurdles remain for

such technologies to enter the

market, however. “Hydrogen fuel

cells, a clean energy source whose

only emission is water, have yet to

achieve use in powering large aircraft

due to engineering challenges

associated with weight, temperature

and electrical loads,” NASA

said last November, while noting

that “new research demonstrates

there may be a way forward”.

247

Number of powertrain conversion kits

sold by Universal Hydrogen, including

for Connect Airlines’ ATR 72 fleet

Universal Hydrogen, which has for

several years been developing a hydrogen

fuel cell modification kit for

Dash 8s and ATR twin-turboprops,

maintains that it is on the right path

to achieve zero-emissions aviation.

“Our first product will be an

ATR,” says Eremenko, formerly of

Airbus and United Technologies

(now Raytheon Technologies). “We

initially had a hypothesis that the

Dash 8 would be the first product,

and then we changed our minds

based on airline demand and the

fact that De Havilland took the

Dash 8 out of production.”

The Dash 8 makes an ideal testbed

for the company’s technology

because “it is a very laterally stable

airplane” thanks to its “humongous

vertical tail”, he explains. “If you’re

flying in an asymmetric thrust kind

of configuration intentionally, as we

did, it’s a very suitable subject.”

The California-based company

said on 7 February it had received

a special airworthiness certificate

in the experimental category from

the US Federal Aviation Administration

(FAA), allowing it to begin

testing its demonstrator aircraft.

Universal Hydrogen intends to obtain

a supplemental type certificate

for modifying existing aircraft and

enter the market in 2025. It will focus

first on retrofitting the existing

fleet of regional turboprops, hoping

to “penetrate half the market over

10 or 15 years”, Eremenko says.

“There’s a question of why would

anybody not do it? Because the unit

economics looks really good,” he

says. “We believe that we can offer

equivalent CASM [cost per available

seat mile] starting in 2025 at entry

to service, and improved CASM over

jet fuel or SAF [sustainable aviation

fuel] over subsequent years.”

Eremenko envisions retrofitting

regional aircraft with hydrogen

powerplants as a stepping stone to

developing similar propulsion systems

for narrowbody jets the size of

Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s.

“The single-aisle is the dominant

source of emissions in aviation,” he

says. “More than 50% of all aviation

Universal Hydrogen


Cover story Propulsion

emissions come from that class of

airplanes, and both of those families

of aircraft are due for a new

clean-sheet design.”

With both Airbus and Boeing

targeting the mid-2030s for entry

to service for the next generation of

narrowbodies, Eremenko believes

they will likely have designs locked

in later this decade. His ambition is

that those designs would incorporate

Universal Hydrogen’s fuel cell

propulsion system, supported by a

hydrogen fuel distribution network

using hydrogen tanks the company

calls “modules”.

“In that sense, regional is a stepping

stone, because by 2025 we

will have real passenger butts in

seats, flying with real unit economics

and a fully certified airframe, a

certification basis with the regulators,

and a fuel logistics system

that can span and scale up to thousands

of commercial airports in the

world,” he says.

Airbus has its own ambitions

of developing the world’s first

zero-emission aircraft by 2035 with

three conceptual aircraft under its

ZEROe programme, one or more of

which could be powered by a proposed

hydrogen fuel cell system.

Innovative concepts

Embraer also recently unveiled

several new conceptual low-emission

aircraft, shifting away from previous

plans to develop an all-electric

commuter aircraft through its

“Energia” programme and toward

possible development of larger

aircraft powered by hybrid-electric

and hydrogen propulsion.

Others have taken a more sceptical

approach. In 2020, Boeing’s

top product developer expressed

doubts that hydrogen-powered airliners

would be viable in the near future,

due to technical and regulatory

hurdles. And in 2021, a Raytheon

“By 2025 we will have real

passengers in seats, flying with

real unit economics… and a fuel

logistics system that can span and

scale up to thousands of airports”

Paul Eremenko Chief executive, Universal Hydrogen

engineer and technology executive

said that hydrogen “burns easy” in

turbofans but has “mass and infrastructure

limitations”.

Hydrogen has more energy density

than the same mass of jet fuel, but

takes up much more space, meaning

hydrogen-fuelled aircraft could

require comparatively much larger,

heavier fuel tanks. This could leave

such aircraft carrying fewer passengers

than conventionally-powered

types and require highly expensive

development programmes.

Storing hydrogen on board is

technically difficult, Airbus noted

in 2021: “Hydrogen may provide

more energy by mass than kerosene

fuel, but it delivers less energy

by volume. At normal atmospheric

pressure and ambient temperature,

you would need approximately

3,000 litres of gaseous hydrogen to

achieve the same amount of energy

as one litre of kerosene fuel.”

Universal Hydrogen has 247

orders for its fuel cell modification

kits, Eremenko says. One of its early

customers is new US carrier Connect

Airlines, which plans to become

the first to use the technology

for regional passenger service.

Connect, having recently completed

trials with the FAA, plans

to begin service this spring using

four Dash 8s. But the Boston-based

carrier still has regulatory hurdles

Hydrogen fuel cell propulsion

system is installed on right wing

to clear with the US Department

of Transportation and Transport

Canada before operating planned

flights from Philadelphia and

Chicago to Toronto.

Connect has orders to convert 75

ATR 72s with hydrogen powertrains,

and purchase rights for an additional

25 conversions, says Scott

Brownrigg, the airline’s director of

public affairs.

“There are approximately 1,400

regional jets flying in the US

domestic regional market, and we

think there’s a huge opportunity to

replace some of those ageing fleets

with smaller aircraft that can fly on

hydrogen,” Brownrigg says.

Existing infrastructure

Connect is not concerned with the

infrastructure logistics of powering

a fleet of turboprops with hydrogen

fuel cells, Brownrigg says.

“The greatest part of the Universal

hybrid technology is that they’re

building a system which they

describe as like an espresso pod

that you can plug into the plane,”

he says. “They can use existing infrastructure

at airports.”

Indeed, the idea behind Universal

Hydrogen’s “modular fuel distribution

approach” is that it will require

no modification to existing airport

shipping and fuelling systems,

Eremenko says.

He asserts that Universal Hydrogen’s

plan to be incorporated into

Airbus and Boeing’s next-generation

aircraft designs may be the

only realistic way for the industry

to reach its zero-carbon target by

2050. He points to the prohibitive

weight of lithium-ion batteries and

land-use issues associated with

scaling production of SAF as reasons

why hydrogen fuel cells are

the most “plausible” path forward.

“We’ve got to start with regional

in the mid-2020s,” he says, “so that

the narrowbody decision in the late

2020s is the right one.” ◗



Australia targets domestic

weapons production

Canberra used the first Avalon Airshow since 2019 to

advance a joint programme with US industry to explore

boosting the output of precision-guided munitions

BAE Systems Australia

Ryan Finnerty Melbourne

Amid heightened geopolitical

tensions across the

globe, Australian defence

officials want to bolster

their country’s domestic production

of precision munitions.

Under an initiative known as the

Guided Weapons and Explosive

Ordnance (GWEO) Enterprise,

Australia’s Department of Defence

(DoD) has partnered with US manufacturers

Lockheed Martin and

Raytheon Technologies to develop

munitions production capacity.

“We’re looking hard at how we

can solve some of those security

needs for the government of

Australia,” Tim Cahill, executive

vice-president at Lockheed’s missiles

division, said at the Avalon Airshow

near Melbourne on 1 March.

Cahill says Lockheed plans to tap

into the engineering and manufacturing

talent already present in

Australia’s workforce to build out

the high-end, digital manufacturing

capability the company has already

developed in the USA.

Increasing capacity to an impactful

level will take several years at a

BAE Systems announced plans to produce

its low-cost Razer munition in the country

minimum. Lockheed says it is taking

cues from Canberra regarding

how fast to move and what capabilities

to prioritise, with these decisions

to drive the GWEO timeline.

However, executives such as

vice-president Ken Kota, who leads

Lockheed’s GWEO effort, say work

is likely to begin with less complex,

established programmes such as

the AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface

missile, rather than cutting-edge

weapons like the stealthy AGM-

158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff

(JASSM) cruise missile. “We’re not

going to jump right into JASSM

manufacturing,” Kota says.

The supply of precision munitions

– or lack thereof – is a topic of

major concern for Western defence

leaders. Observations from the

ongoing war between Russia and

Ukraine, and war games examining

a potential Indo-Pacific conflict

1,200

Number of workers Lockheed Martin

currently employs in Australia’s

defence manufacturing sector

with China, indicate that the USA

and its allies could expend existing

stocks in the opening weeks of a

high-intensity fight.

Furthermore, leaders in the defence

industry say they would

struggle to rapidly increase production

capacity of the highly technical

precision-guided, long-range weapons

that would be critical to victory.

Washington has moved to

bolster its own stockpiles of such

munitions, which have been depleted

from a year of equipping

Kyiv’s armed forces. The US Congress

last December authorised

billions of dollars in new spending

to support the multi-year procurement

of precision weapons.

Allied initiative

Cahill stresses that the GWEO initiative

should not be considered part

of the effort by Australia, the USA

and NATO to bolster Kyiv. “It’s not

about fighting the war in Ukraine,”

he says. “It’s about keeping the

next Ukraine from happening.”

James Heading, missiles business

development manager for

Lockheed Martin Australia, says

the primary focus of the GWEO

programme is “more missiles in the

cupboard” for the Australian Defence

Force (ADF).

However, Canberra also wants to

use the programme to fuel growth

of Australia’s domestic defence

sector – currently a national priority

for the federal government.

Defence industry minister Pat

Conroy says that while he sees providing

equipment to the ADF “on

time and on budget” as the defence

industry’s first priority, there are

“secondary opportunities to grow a

sustainable and sovereign Australian

defence industry”. Conroy notes

that the sector already employs

100,000 people in Australia.

Lockheed says it already has

1,200 workers in the country, and

with a strong university system and


Show Armaments

Canberra is growing local capability to

get ‘more missiles in the cupboard’

Commonwealth of Australia

“Not only can we produce missiles

in Australia for Australian Defence

Force needs, we can be a second

supply line for the United States”

Pat Conroy Australian minister for defence industry

mature manufacturing base, Cahill

believes Australia already has “a lot

of the right elements” to succeed

in defence production.

Conroy asserts that successive

governments in Canberra have

failed to capitalise on that potential,

noting: “I’ll be very honest with

you here, Australia has underperformed

on defence exports.”

However, he notes that Australian

firms are already supplying parts for

major international projects such as

Lockheed’s F-35 stealth fighter.

Other major companies are also

expanding production in Australia.

BAE Systems announced at Avalon

that it plans to design and build

a low-cost munition for the ADF.

Named Razer, this will add precision

guidance to air-launched munitions

in the 40-50kg (88-110lb) class. It

also will collaborate with European

guided weapons specialist MBDA in

support of the GWEO effort.

“We’ve got great opportunities

to partner on things like our guided

weapons enterprise, where not

only can we produce missiles in

Australia for [ADF] needs, we can

be a second supply line for the

United States,” Conroy says.

Lockheed says that possibility

is not out of the question, but the

company will initially be focusing on

the more modest goals of expanding

Australia’s production capacity.

That will include identifying new

suppliers, building a labour force

and developing assembly facilities.

“We will build transformational

factories of the future here in

Australia,” says Kota.

Quality counts

Heading, meanwhile, cautions that

Lockheed will not sacrifice quality

or reliability via such activities. “We

can’t mess with things like reliability,”

he notes. “Weapons like this

need to work every time.”

One major consideration for

Lockheed will be ensuring that

any investments it makes in Australia

are financially viable in the

long term. Part of that will be

forecasting long-term demand for

the products Australian officials

want to build at home.

“We need to look at the worldwide

market and worldwide demand,”

says Heading, noting that

Lockheed will need more than just

the domestic orders from Canberra.

“It’s not sustainable”, he says, to

make large investments into rapidly

expanding production capacity if

demand drops off a few years later.

But Cahill is optimistic regarding

current demand signals.

“The numbers are just enormous,”

he says, in assessing the NATO

bloc’s interest in munitions acquisition.

“The demand is clearly there.”

How far that demand will carry

the burgeoning Australian defence

sector is unclear, however. Much of

Canberra’s goal for local munition

production will require Washington

to approve the export of sensitive

manufacturing technologies

– which also sustain jobs in the USA.

Industry observers say US r egulators

are likely to withhold export

approval for the production of highly

sensitive components, such as

missile seeker heads and precision

guidance systems.

However, Cahill says there is still a

great deal of work that can be done

in Australia, both to shore up the

country’s own stocks and serve as

an additional supplier to the USA.

“All nations can contribute in

some way to our collective defence,”

he notes.


Defence Competition

Current type is being upgraded

to extend its operational life

Commonwealth of Australia

RAAF launches

search for Hawk successor

Australian requirement seeks 30-40 advanced jet trainers to

replace its BAE Systems-built fleet from early next decade

Greg Waldron Melbourne

The Royal Australian Air Force

(RAAF) has announced

plans to acquire a new fleet

of advanced jet trainers,

prompting leading manufacturers

to promote potential candidates

during the recent Av alon Airshow

near Melbourne.

A selection decision will be taken

in 2026, with a production contract

to be signed in 2027, according to

an RAAF official.

Canberra’s requirement will be

for 30-40 aircraft. In addition to

supporting pilot training, the selected

type will be required to

have a light combat capability,

along with an electro-optical/infrared

sensor and datalinks. These

capabilities are required because

the platform will also be called on

to perform the “red air” mission

during adversary training.

Boeing promoted its in-development

T-7A Red Hawk, which will

replace the venerable Northrop

T-38 in the advanced jet trainer

role for the US Air Force (USAF).

“The T-7 would fit right into the

pilot training and aircraft sustainment

our team currently provides

for the Australian Defence Force,”

says Scott Carpendale, vice-president

and managing director, Boeing

Defence Australia.

“Because the US and Australia

have a high degree of

interoperability due to flying similar

aircraft types, an Australian T-7

could lead to new joint training

scenarios between the two countries,”

he adds.

Boeing also highlighted the T-7’s

open systems architecture design,

which it says will facilitate upgrades

for “decades to come”.

Leonardo, meanwhile, will offer

its M-346-based training system.

Carmine Russo, head of sales,

engineering and IFTS (International

Flight Training School) marketing,

says the M-346 is ideally

suited to training pilots destined

for fifth-generation aircraft such as

the Lockheed Martin F-35 – a type

operated by the RAAF.

International pedigree

Seven nations currently operate

the M-346: Greece, Israel, Italy,

Poland, Qatar, Singapore and

Turkmenistan, while the type also

delivers multinational training at

the IFTS in Italy.

Lockheed is promoting the T-50,

via a marketing partnership with

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI).

Although unsuccessfully offered

to the USAF for its T-38 replacement

need, the T-50 and its FA-50

light combat variant have enjoyed

considerable international success,

with KAI counting Indonesia,

Iraq, the Philippines, South Korea

and Thailand as current operators.

Malaysia and Poland also have

signed deals to acquire the type.

The RAAF currently operates

33 BAE Systems Hawk 127s in the

advanced jet training role, which

Cirium data shows to be up to 22

years in age.

In February 2022 Canberra announced

the service’s Hawks are

to receive software and hardware

updates, and be upgraded with

the Rolls-Royce Adour 951 engine.

Valued at A$1.5 billion ($990 million),

and also covering in-service

support, the contract will extend

the type’s operational life until 2031.

The RAAF’s Hawks are used to

prepare pilots to fly types including

the stealthy F-35A.

Speaking to FlightGlobal at the

show, Steve Over, Lockheed’s

director, international business

development for the type, said the

company is on track to complete

Australia’s current order for 72

F-35s before the end of 2023.

“As of today, they have 59

airplanes here in Australia,” says

Over, noting that a 60th example is

complete and “waiting on the ramp”

at Lockheed’s Fort Worth production

facility in Texas. “We’ll deliver

the remaining 12 aircraft before the

end of this year,” he adds.

The RAAF intends to declare full

operational capability for its F-35

fleet in December 2023, Over notes.

Australia has long hinted at a

potential need to increase its order

to 100 aircraft, and the topic may

be addressed in its forthcoming

Defence Strategic Review.



UAE grows technological Edge

State-owned defence house uses biennial IDEX show to

highlight its expanded equipment portfolio and advance

collaboration discussions with international partners

Edge

Murdo Morrison Abu Dhabi

To say that Edge Group bestrode

its home show IDEX

would be an understatement.

The United Arab Emirates’

(UAE) state-owned defence

house announced a slew of contracts

with its domestic customer,

including for precision-guided and

loitering munitions. It also revealed

it is discussing potential collaborations

with, among others, BAE

S ystems, L3Harris and Raytheon.

Its football pitch-sized stand

at the biennial Abu Dhabi exhibition

– held from 20-24 February

– featured an array of products,

including more than a dozen

autonomous airborne platforms.

These included first appearances

for the Jeniah unmanned combat

air vehicle design and Air Truck,

a 500kg (1,100lb)-payload rotorcraft

designed to supply frontline

troops or carry out medical

evacuation duties.

Chief executive Mansour Almulla

says the business’s scaled-up

presence at the event was all about

reinforcing its credentials as an

innovative, entrepreneurial developer

of proprietary technology

in disciplines such as weaponry,

110

Approximate number of products in

group’s portfolio, including Air Truck

unmanned cargo rotorcraft

autonomous systems and electronic

warfare. The company is also

keen to investigate business partnerships

with counterparts large

and small from around the world.

Edge was set up just before

November 2019’s Dubai air show to

bring the nation’s defence industrial

assets under one roof. With its

deep pockets and pressing security

imperatives, the UAE had been a

big buyer of foreign military equipment

for decades. Edge was Abu

Dhabi’s bid to become a heavyweight

on the supply side too – not

just for domestic needs but also in

the export market.

Almulla believes that in its fourth

year of existence Edge is already

making strides towards that goal.

“We have come a long way,” he

tells FlightGlobal, pointing to

the fact that from having fewer

than 20 products in its portfolio

Halcon unit announced a one billion

dirham contract for Al Tariq missiles

when the business was set up,

it now has around 110. Of these

new capabilities, around 50 are

market-ready and another 40 in

advanced development.

The UAE still accounts for

the bulk of its orders – deals

announced at the show for its

Halcon unit included a one billion

dirham ($270 million) contract for

Al Tariq long-range missiles, and

another listed at 4.7 billion dirham

for Desert Sting 25 lightweight

air-to-surface precision-guided

munitions. Halcon will also

supply additional Hunter loitering

munitions to the UAE armed forces,

and sister unit ADASI its Shadow

25 and 50 weapons.

However, the export market is

a priority, and Almulla believes

shows such as IDEX are a shop

window to the world for the young

consolidated business. Overseas

sales grew from one billion dirham

in 2021 to five billion dirham last

year, or roughly one-fifth of Edge’s

total order intake. “There will

be dips and spikes in that trend,

but the message is that we are

progressing,” he says.

New products

Among the new products

announced at the show was the

Skyshield counter-unmanned

air vehicle system, designed to

provide protection to critical infrastructure.

Developed by Edge’s

electronic warfare arm Sign4l,

it comprises sensors, 3D radars,

electro- optical cameras and direction

finders, integrated into a

command and control system.

Also seeing the light of day

was SkyKnight, which Edge says

is the first UAE designed and

manufactured counter-rocket,

artillery and mortar missile system.

Edge is teaming with Germany’s

Rheinmetall to offer SkyKnight as

the missile system component of its

Oerlikon Skynex air defence system.

As with the Rheinmetall collaboration,

Edge is not doing it all on

its own. This year it bought a $14

Mark Pilling


Defence Strategy

Design for Jeniah unmanned

combat air vehicle was unveiled

Edge

million stake in High Lander, an

Israeli specialist in air traffic management

solutions for unmanned

air vehicles (UAVs). It was Edge’s

second Israeli tie-up since the

signing of the Abraham Accords,

after agreeing in 2021 to

work with Israel Aerospace

Industries on

counter-UAV systems.

While the Israeli

deals are politically

symbolic – until 2020,

the UAE did not acknowledge

the Jewish

State’s existence – Almulla

says that when it

comes to potential partners,

“we look at

capabilities, not

countries”. Abu

Dhabi has

“excellent

relationships with most countries”,

he notes; a fact borne out

at IDEX, which featured exhibitors

from Russia and China as well as

Ukraine, Israel and NATO members.

“The bottom line is that if we feel

we can achieve our objectives

with an acquisition

or business partnership,

we will take it to the

board,” he says. The

idea is to integrate

Edge chief executive Mansour Almulla

technologies that

help to supercharge

Edge’s existing portfolio.

“We are seeking

true partnerships

to achieve

capabilities that

sit with us

and can be

exported,”

he adds.

Edge’s growth comes with

challenges, Almulla admits. One

of these is industrialising and nurturing

an extensive supply chain

within and beyond the UAE. “We

have now to be ready to deliver in

large numbers,” he says. However,

he believes the business is focusing

on the growth areas of the future,

including counter-UAV systems and

all aspects of cyber warfare.

Intellectual property

Most importantly, he maintains that

his nation does not want to remain

dependent on foreign partners

for its security. “We are a country

which has traditionally bought

all the equipment we need from

overseas,” he says. “Now we are

setting about developing our own

capabilities and retaining our IP

[intellectual property].” ◗

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Download the 2023

World Air Forces Report

FlightGlobal.com/waf


Powerplant is an option

on the A320neo family

Airbus

Leap glitch pressures aftermarket

CFM sees higher rates of shop visits from engines flown in

‘harsh’ conditions – but remains confident of hitting rate rise

Dominic Perry London

Premature wear of turbine

components in CFM International

Leap engines operated

in “harsh” environments

is causing higher than anticipated

workload for the manufacturer’s

repair and overhaul network.

First disclosed in late 2021, the

problem relates to the cracking

of first-stage rotor blades of Leap

engines that are operated in challenging

environments.

A European Union Aviation

Safety Agency airworthiness directive

(AD) – first issued in February

2022 and subsequently modified

last July – covers Leap-1A engines

fitted with certain stage one rotor

blades that have been “operated

extensively” in the Middle East and

North Africa region.

Under that AD and a related

service bulletin released by CFM

for all Leap variants, operators are

required to conduct borescope

inspections of the affected parts

every 150 cycles.

Briefing analysts on its full-year

performance on 17 February, Olivier

Andries, chief executive of Safran –

a partner in the CFM joint venture

alongside GE Aerospace – said the

problem persists.

Expected behaviour

“The behaviour of the Leap in

service is as expected in normal

environments [but] I would say it

is slightly more difficult in harsh

environments,” Andries says.

“New engines are suffering a lot

in harsh environments, especially

the Gulf and India.”

As a result, it is seeing “slightly

more shop visits coming from

those regions compared to our

expectations”, with “higher work

scope” on each engine, says

Andries. This, he concedes, is “a

pressure” on its financial performance

in the aftermarket.

Drawing parallels with the early

days of the predecessor CFM56

powerplant, Andries notes that it

“takes time” in order to fully understand

how a new engine performs

in operation before introducing

any updates.

“We [will] learn from the inservice

behaviour and take decisions

in terms of improving the

reliability and the time on wing of

the Leap through design changes.

The maturity of the engine will

improve over time,” he says.

Safran says it is “working with

operators” to determine the root

cause of the issue, which is seen

on engines operating in “hot and


Propulsion Performance

harsh conditions” – at high temperatures

and in the presence of

sand or dust.

“The company has identified

enhanced on-wing inspections of

a specific population of engines

and launched support operations

to keep disruption to a minimum,”

it adds.

Meanwhile, Safran is confident

that CFM can deliver 1,700 Leapseries

engines in 2023 – a 600-

unit increase on 2022 – despite

ongoing supply chain disruption.

Growing demand

Last year, CFM shipped 1,136 Leap

powerplants, up 34% on 2021’s

845 engines. But the joint venture

expects to raise output further, by

around 50%, over the course of

2023 to match growing demand

from Airbus and Boeing.

However, supply chain constraints

in 2022 caused CFM – and

rival Pratt & Whitney – to miss

delivery targets to the airframers.

Consequently, Airbus failed to

reach its delivery goal for the year.

Nonetheless, Safran believes its

2023 output forecast is attainable.

“We are confident on 1,700 – we

have discussed it with our partner

GE and we are confident we should

be able to be around there,” says

Andries. “This is meeting our two

airframers’ demands.”

Both Airbus and Boeing are

planning to increase the production

rates of their respective

A320neo and 737 Max narrowbody

families in 2023. The Leap-1A

is an option on the Neo, while the

-1B variant is the exclusive powerplant

on the Max.

Andries says that although the

overall supply chain situation has

not eased, “it has improved a bit

on propulsion”. CFM, he says, “is

not pacing any more [the deliveries

of] our airframer clients”.

However, he feels that broader

supply chain tightness will continue

“at least until the end of 2023”,

adding that “every day is a fight to

get components”. ◗

GE hails durability gains from component tweaks

Jon Hemmerdinger Cincinnati

GE Aerospace is pleased with the durability improvements it is

seeing in testing from enhancements to some components in CFM

International Leap turbofans to address issues related to operations in

India and the Middle East.

Harsh environmental conditions – notably the prevalence of dust

and sand – in those places have long created engine-durability

headaches for airlines and engine makers.

“As it stands, Leap has a shortfall in time-on-wing, particularly in the

Middle East and India,” GE Aerospace vice-president of engineering

Mohamed Ali said during parent GE’s investor conference near

Cincinnati on 9 March. “We have tested the improvements to those

parts, and we are excited about the performance they are showing.”

The Leap durability problems affect a “small handful of

components”, including fuel nozzles and high-pressure turbine blades

and nozzles, he adds.

GE Aerospace has been flight testing the improved Leap fuel nozzle

since early 2022, and it plans to ramp production of those parts this

year and next.

Meanwhile, the updates to Leap high-pressure turbine blades

and nozzles are “progressing through validation”, it says. It aims to

increase output of those components in 2024 and 2025.

GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines co-own CFM, which

builds Leap-1A turbofans for Airbus A320neo-family jets, and Leap-

1Bs for Boeing’s 737 Max.

Ali says GE Aerospace intends to update all Leap engines with some

of the durability improvements now under development, while others

“are only intended” for jets operating in the Middle East.

Chief financial officer Rahul Ghai calls the modifications “quick

fixes” that will not significantly drive up costs.

GE Aerospace has previously addressed dust and sand durability

issues with modifications to the 787’s GEnx and the 777’s GE90

engines. Specific to the GE90, the company developed improved

shrouds, nozzles, blades and combustor linings, it says.

Such work has given the engine maker a “head start” in addressing

similar durability issues affecting the Leap, Ali says. “These are small

tweaks that make a big difference.”

He notes that the company uses technology “to simulate the effect

of dust in the Middle East”.

Despite such issues, GE Aerospace says Leap engines have been

more reliable, at “comparable ages”, to the CFM56, which powers

earlier-generation A320s and 737s.

Meanwhile, GE chief executive Larry Culp expects the engine maker

to expand into new segments following a group reorganisation

expected to wrap up next year.

“As we become a standalone public company, there are going to

be a lot of things that we’re going to look at, [that] we’re going to

consider,” he says, without offering details.

GE is partway through a reorganisation that involves shedding two

non-aviation businesses, leaving GE Aerospace as its sole entity.

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Spin cycles

The helicopter industry’s annual Heli-Expo gathering saw

a sector looking to the future with increased confidence

as in-development platforms near certification

Dominic Perry Atlanta

If 2022’s HAI Heli-Expo event represented

an industry – and indeed

world – slowly emerging from

Covid lockdowns but still mired

in travel restrictions, this year’s

edition showed a sector looking to

the future with confidence.

Not only were attendance figures

for both exhibitors and visitors

up on last year, but the rotorcraft

industry arrived at the

show – held from 6 to 9 March in

Atlanta, Georgia – in full recovery

mode, forecasting a strong outlook

for orders and deliveries. Even the

long-moribund oil and gas segment

is showing signs of life again.

It was, however, another show

without a new product launch. That

is due to a host of factors: Covid-19,

the immaturity of next-generation

technologies, the continued

popularity of existing platforms,

and, not least, the industry’s focus

on delivering those helicopters

already in development.

But for two of the longest-running

development programmes

– the Bell 525 Relentless and

Leonardo Helicopters AW609

tiltrotor – there appears to be

increasing confidence that certification

is near.

Arrested development

The two rotorcraft have been in

the works for years – decades in

the case of the AW609 – with the

flight-test campaign of each mired

by a fatal crash and significant delays,

the latter issue not aided in

recent years by Covid disruption

and higher levels of scrutiny by the

US Federal Aviation Administration

(FAA), the lead certification

agency for both platforms.

Derek Mookhoek, 525 programme

director, says the end is now within

sight: “We are approaching the finish

line rather quickly compared to

where we have been.”

A round of test flights with the

FAA began in late March and a

second aircraft will shortly begin

flights with the regulator’s pilots

on board.

However, Mookhoek declines to

speculate on the timeline for certification:

“On our schedule we are

driving for the middle of the year,

but it is so dependent on the FAA

being there, for me to say we will be

done in Q2 or Q3 is really difficult.

“What we would love to do is

complete all our flight testing by

Q3 and give ourselves a quarter to

wrap up all the remaining paperwork

out to close out the TC [type

certification].”

Even if certification slips slightly

“it’s not going to stop what we

are doing from a production standpoint.

We are building the aircraft

and those aircraft will be ready for

delivery next year,” he says.

30,000h

Sikorsky S-92 airframe life, potentially

driving replacement demand as global

fleet returns to high utilisation rates

Bell argues that delays to

the programme, while clearly

unfortunate, have left the 525

poised to enter service just as

the oil and gas market begins to

pick up and the replacement cycle

for the Sikorsky S-92 heavy-twin

begins to get under way.

“I think the reality is setting in

with the oil and gas industry that

the S-92’s useful life is nearing an

end,” says Tim Evans, director, 525

business development.

Leonardo Helicopters also foresees

service entry for the AW609

next year, says managing director

Gian Piero Cutillo.

A pre-type inspection authorisation

flight was conducted with

FAA staff in Italy in February

using the programme’s first

production-representative aircraft,

Cutillo says, with this being the

first time the agency’s staff had

flown the tiltrotor.

He describes the flight-test effort

as being in its “final stage” and says

the airframer is “making important

progress” with the US regulator.

But pressed on the schedule

for certification and service entry,

Cutillo adds: “It is difficult to say if

we are able to do this within ’23 or

next year but we are getting close

to that timeframe.”

Regulatory complexity

In part, the delay is due to the complexity

of the certification, which

sees the AW609 the first aircraft to

be approved under the FAA’s new

powered-lift regulatory framework.

And in a sign of operator interest

in the tiltrotor, Leonardo Helicopters

has secured another partner

for its AW609 programme, lining

up Malaysia’s Weststar Aviation to

assist with service entry.

Like a previous agreement

with launch customer Bristow

Group, Weststar will contribute

its expertise to assist with the

definition of missions and operational

requirements for the AW609

in Southeast Asia.

Weststar will receive a single

aircraft for the trials, potentially as

early as next year.

While Bell is pitching the 525

as a replacement for the S-92, so

too is Airbus Helicopters with its

H175 super-medium-twin and the

airframer is convinced that the

positive momentum seen for the

type in 2022 will develop into a

fully fledged resurgence over the

coming months.

Last year the airframer booked

orders for eight units, the majority

for offshore transportation

customers. While not quite in double

figures, it still represents an improvement

on two years ago when

zero orders were taken.

“This helicopter is really illustrating

the positive momentum we

see in the oil and gas market,” says

Bruno Even, Airbus Helicopters

chief executive.

Leonardo Helicopters


Show Heli-Expo

“It is difficult to say if we are able

to [achieve certification for the

AW609] within ’23 or next year

but we are getting close”

Gian Piero Cutillo Managing director, Leonardo Helicopters

Tiltrotor made pre-type inspection

authorisation flight in February

Higher oil prices in 2022 were

“a positive sign” which “should be

confirmed in 2023”, he says.

“H175 is the first helicopter really

to benefit from that situation, to

benefit from the evolution of the

market and at the same time, the

need we see on the market for the

renewal of some existing helicopters,”

he says.

Crucially, there may already be

signs of the market responding. At

Heli-Expo, Airbus Helicopters unveiled

a tentative agreement with

French finance firm Rive Private Investment

for up to eight H175s for

offshore or search and rescue missions.

If confirmed these would be

delivered between 2024 and 2026.

Lessor LCI, meanwhile, has an

order for two H175s which are due

for delivery later this year. Jaspal

Jandu, LCI chief executive, says it

is “seeing lots of interest” from operators

in taking that pair. It also

holds four options for the type.

But while others are ready to

write off the S-92, it is not a view

shared by Sikorsky: it is actively

seeking further orders for the

helicopter, in particular for newbuild

A+ models. However, it has

shelved plans for a future S-92B,

citing a lack of market interest.

Leon Silva, vice-president of

global commercial and military systems

says Sikorsky sees “a future

on the S-92 for new aircraft”.

Sales of the S-92 have been subdued

for several years; Sikorsky is

currently assembling just five examples

at its facility in West Palm

Beach, Florida, for VIP and search

and rescue customers.

Recovering demand

However, with the rebound in oil

and gas exploration and production,

most of the stored S-92s have

been returned to service.

In addition, the global S-92 fleet

is now seeing high utilisation rates,

potentially driving a need for replacement

helicopters as existing

aircraft reach their 30,000h limit;

Silva says seven aircraft have

already accumulated more than

20,000h, with the fleet leader approaching

28,000h. It has no plans

to extend airframe life, he adds.

Lead time for a new S-92, depending

on configuration, is “between

two and three years”, Silva says.

But all S-92s to roll off the line

from 2025 will be built to the new A+

standard, incorporating several improvements

including the enhanced

‘phase 4’ main gearbox. Certification

of the update is expected that

year, adds Silva.

To date, Sikorsky has taken

“close to 30” orders for S-92A+

upgrade kits but only began offering

factory-fit helicopters to

customers at the show.

However, Sikorsky’s commitment

to the S-92’s future is not total:

Silva says the airframer will need

combined annual orders “in double

digits” for A+ production to make

financial sense.

Meanwhile, development of the

proposed S-92B – which would

have incorporated “more intrusive”

changes such as larger cabin

windows – has been halted. “We

have seen limited interest in that

from the marketplace so what we

have done is packaged that up and

put it on the shelf.” ◗



Better together?

Airline industry consolidation is once

more in full swing, but the regulatory

barriers to joining competing carriers

remain no less formidable

Graham Dunn London

It is not without reason that the

airline industry is one of the least

consolidated sectors globally.

Regular competition issues are

compounded by the inherently international

nature of the business,

which for most operators involves

connecting cities in different countries,

even if the consolidation itself

is not cross-border.

Indeed, as the US Department of

Justice (DoJ) intervention in March

over JetBlue’s move for ultra-lowcost

carrier (ULCC) Spirit Airlines

illustrates, even domestic mergers

are far from straightforward.

In early March, Korean Air ticked

another overseas regulatory

approval off the list when the UK

become the 11th authority to clear

its planned merger with fellow

South Korean operator Asiana Airlines,

while IAG agreed a new deal

to acquire full control of Spanish

operator Air Europa.

That both deals are still winding

through the approvals process

underlines why consolidation still

largely remains at the fringes of

the airline industry.

Korean Air, which announced its

plan to acquire Asiana in November

2020, had initially hoped to

secure the necessary approvals by

the end of last year.

But having received a green light

from the UK authorities, after Korean

cleared a path for Virgin Atlantic to

start London-Seoul flights, it is now

working with EU, US and Japanese

regulators to gain the remaining

competition clearances.

Spanish acquisition

IAG’s on-off move for Air Europa

pre-dates the Korean-Asiana tieup

by a year, and while fresh terms

have now been agreed on the

acquisition, the European airline

group expects it to take another 18

months to complete.

Previously, tripartite talks between

IAG, Air Europa parent

Globalia and the Spanish government

failed to broker a deal, and

Euro pean and UK regulators had

both also flagged competition

concerns. But IAG chief executive

Luis Gallego now points to the

“greater certainty” in the market

as a reason for optimism that the

transaction can be concluded.

Regulatory hurdles have also hit

Avianca’s move for fellow Colombian

carrier Viva Air. The struggling

budget airline has suspended

operations, citing regulatory holdups

regarding its efforts to merge

with Avianca. The latter had earlier

identified a deal for Viva as part

of its wider consolidation efforts,

under which it is establishing the

Abra holding group with Brazilian

carrier Gol.

While Viva says the flight suspension

is “temporary”, it stresses the

link-up with Avianca was the “only

possibility” for continuing its business.

In the meantime, rival Chilean

budget carrier JetSmart has said it

too is interested in acquiring Viva.

8-9%

Market share that JetBlue and Spirit

would hold after a merger, according

to the former’s boss Robin Hayes

Following Viva’s suspension of

flights, Colombia’s transportation

superintendent, the oversight authority

for the sector, has taken

control of the troubled airline and

is seeking to submit the carrier to a

business recovery process.

While domestic consolidation

should theoretically be easier to

achieve, JetBlue’s move for Spirit

has now prompted the DoJ

to take legal action to block the

planned acquisition. That the deal

AirTeamImages

prompted regulatory scrutiny is little

surprise. Both Spirit’s board and

that of Frontier Airlines flagged

competition concerns in initially

backing a tie-up between the two

over JetBlue’s rival offer, before the

latter ultimately secured Spirit’s

backing following a bidding war.

No monopoly

Robin Hayes, chief executive of

JetBlue, downplayed the DoJ’s

action, maintaining that the carrier

had anticipated a court trial since

the $3.8 billion deal was approved

by Spirit’s board in July 2022.

Admitting to being “disappointed”

by the DoJ’s decision,

he argues that fears of a discount

airline monopoly are overblown.

“This is not Pepsi buying Coke,”

he said during a 7 March television

interview. “Together, we are going

to be 8-9% of the market.”

If combined, JetBlue and Spirit

would become the fifth largest airline

in the USA, but some distance

behind American Airlines, Delta Air

Lines, Southwest Airlines and United

Airlines, Hayes adds.

“The issue in the US industry –

and this is where we agree with

the Department of Justice – is that

we’ve got four large airlines with

about 20% of the market each,” he

says. “That’s 80%. The rest of us

have 20% between us.”

Others say the deal has the

potential to profoundly change


Market Strategy

Colombian budget airline Viva Air has suspended

operations while it tries to merge with Avianca

“We allege that the proposed

merger [between JetBlue and

Spirit] would lead to fewer seats

and higher prices for travellers”

Vanita Gupta Associate attorney general, US Department of Justice

the highly competitive North

American discount airline market.

ULCCs play a critical role in

the American economy by making

air travel more affordable,

says Vanita Gupta, US associate

attorney general. She adds that

the US government’s complaint

“rests on well-established theories

of anti-competitive harm”.

“We allege that the proposed

merger would lead to fewer seats

and higher prices for travellers,”

she says. “And we allege that the

proposed merger would heighten

the risk that remaining airlines

would co-ordinate to raise prices.”

Thriving market

JetBlue says the ULCC market will

“continue to thrive” if it successfully

purchases Spirit: “Because many

Spirit aircraft will continue to fly in

their current configuration during

the retrofitting process after the

transaction closes, there will be no

short-term change in capacity.”

Despite the challenges in progressing

consolidation, more

activity is in the works. In Europe,

Lufthansa remains in talks with the

Italian government over its planned

acquisition of ITA Airways, driven

by a desire to add a base in southern

Europe.

“The five hubs we have are fairly

northern positioned, which has its

advantages when you think about

the North Atlantic, Japan and

China,” explained Lufthansa group

chief executive Carsten Spohr

during a full-year results call in

early March.

“When it comes to the – in my

view – relatively small but growing

southern hemisphere markets, being

further north is a disadvantage because

a certain share of our European

passengers need to backtrack.”

ITA is one of two southern European

airlines openly in the market

for investors, the other being TAP

Air Portugal. While Spohr does not

rule out a move for the Portuguese

carrier, he outlines a key benefit of

ITA and its Rome hub.

“The difference between TAP and

ITA is TAP would be new markets

for us. They only serve two markets

that we serve ourselves in Latin

America,” he says, noting that as

the group covers many of the same

destinations as ITA, this would enable

it to increase its market share

and reduce backtracking time.

“Now we focus on ITA. Then we

will look at TAP, as probably my two

best friends in the industry will, and

we take it from there,” Spohr says,

referring to rival European airline

groups Air France-KLM and IAG.

Political controversy

Air France-KLM chief executive

Ben Smith recently reiterated

the group’s interest in TAP, while

Gallego has said IAG’s move for

Air Europa does not rule it out

from also considering other acquisition

opportunities.

TAP’s attempt to position itself

for sale has been complicated by

the removal in March of the airline’s

chair, Manuel Beja, and chief executive

Christine Ourmieres-Widener.

That followed publication of a report

into a controversial severance payment

to a former TAP administrator,

with Portugal’s finance minister

Fernando Medina seeking to “turn

the page” at TAP after a political

scandal that had already seen two

government officials resign. ◗



Upward trajectory

European urban air mobility developer Volocopter is targeting

a service launch for its first aircraft in Paris next year, with a

crucial certification phase ready to take off during July

Volocopter chief executive

Dirk Hoke is laser focused

on seeing his company

become the world’s first

true urban air mobility (UAM)

provider in 2024.

If all goes to plan, this will happen

by the Olympic Games in Paris next

summer, featuring the company’s

VoloCity electric vertical take-off

and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

Hoke recently visited the European

Union Aviation Safety Agency

(EASA) to ensure that plans for

VoloCity’s type certification are on

track – the model made its debut

flight in late 2021.

“We went through all the details

of the certification plan as we have

it right now, and EASA confirms

that we’re still on track,” Hoke told

FlightGlobal during a February visit

to Singapore.

His credentials are unique among

UAM leaders, having spent nearly

six years as chief executive of Airbus

Defence & Space.

Prior to that, he

held several leadership

roles at

German industrial

champion

Siemens.

For Hoke,

joining Volocopter

was a

unique opportunity

to be part

of a frontier

industry.

Volocopter

Greg Waldron Singapore

Asked about how running

the company differs from his

time at the helm of Airbus’s defence

unit, he immediately notes

their different sizes. Whereas in

his previous role he led around

40,000 employees, at Volocopter

his team numbers just 700. Still,

there are management challenges,

not least because of the company’s

rapid growth in the burgeoning

UAM environment.

“We have a big mix of young,

motivated and visionary people,

but also very experienced – and still

very motivated – people,” he says.

Diverse expertise

Volocopter is also diverse, with

60 nationalities represented. All

these different backgrounds and

experiences need to work together

as one team. During his first five

months in the job, Hoke says he

worked on strategic areas such as

staffing, processes, and how funds

are deployed.

Definitive signs of progress are

key. Hoke notes that Volocopter

has already achieved two core

milestones in aircraft development:

design, and production organisation

approvals. The next big

objective is achieving type certification

for the VoloCity.

Headline-grabbing order announcements

are not a priority.

Still, Hoke says it has booked orders,

and that demand actually far

outpaces supply.

“Is it important to have orders?”,

he asks rhetorically. “Or to deliver

to the market? My intention

is to keep to the important

milestones, and this is [gaining]

a type certificate and to go into

commercial operation. What do

you do with orders if you don’t

have a type certificate?”

Volocopter is producing a trio

of two-seat VoloCity platforms

that will be ready in the coming

months. From July these

aircraft will commence a gruelling

certification campaign. Initially

they will be flown with just a pilot

aboard, but a passenger will be

added by end-2023.

With 18 rotors, VoloCity derives

power from nine battery packs

that weigh in at 30kg (66lb) each.

These can be quickly swapped

in an out. Hoke says that batteries

powerful enough to power a

four-seater UAM vehicle will not

enter production until 2025, pending

deployment in 2026.

Taking advantage of improved

batteries, the year 2026 will see

the company’s VoloRegion eVTOL

aircraft enter service. Unlike the

multirotor VoloCity, the fiveseater

design – formerly branded

VoloConnect – is essentially a

light aircraft, with two large wings

optimised for longer flights. It will

take-off and land vertically using

six rotors, while a pair of ducted

fans provide forward thrust.

The VoloRegion is not designed

to operate short hops in cities, but

rather for longer flights, such as

from an airport to a distant suburb.

In addition to four passengers and

a pilot, there will be space for hand

luggage and suitcases.

Following a first flight in 2022,

a 90%-scale prototype of the

VoloRegion is undergoing testing,

including the critical transition

“My intention is to keep to the

important milestones, and this is

a type certificate and to go into

commercial operation”

Dirk Hoke Chief executive, Volocopter

Volocopter Volocopter


Technology Development

Company hopes to have VoloCity operating

in French capital for the 2024 Olympics

from vertical to horizontal flight.

The eventual production model is

likely to have a greater wingspan,

and the locations of its lifting

motors will also be shifted to improve

resilience to bird strikes.

Hoke says that the prototype is

performing very well, and shows

that the company’s performance

simulations are accurate.

At the 2023 Paris air show, Hoke

hopes to have more information

to share about the VoloCity’s

Five-seat VoloRegion is

designed for longer flights

service entry in 2024. In tandem

with its type certification campaign,

Volocopter is pursuing an

air operator certificate for a fixedwing

aircraft. This should allow for

VoloCity commercial operations to

commence next year.

On a broader basis, Volocopter

is working with partners around

the world to start UAM services

in the coming years. Key partners

for its Paris launch, for example,

are airport operator Groupe ADP,

public transport operator RATP

Group, and Choose Paris Region, a

government promotional agency.

As for other global launches,

Volocopter is focusing mainly

on cities and countries that have

issues with gridlock.

“We will not replace anything,

but we will add one more option to

the mobility concept,” says Hoke.

To meet the requirement for VoloCity

airframes, the company is on

the verge of opening a new factory

near its headquarters in Bruchsal,

Germany. When completed, this

will be able to produce 50 eVTOL

aircraft annually per shift, for a

maximum yearly output of 150.

Hoke refers to facility as a

“reference factory”, and says a

further site would be required for

mass production.

Looking to the future, Hoke

says that it is essential for UAM

to win society’s trust before wide

adoption takes place. Noise, he

feels, will not be an issue because

extensive work has gone into ensuring

the VoloCity is far quieter than

a helicopter. In the early days, UAM

platforms also will stick to specific

flight corridors, enabling people to

get used to them and understand

that the technology is safe.

Concurrent work

Meanwhile, Volocopter announced

on 21 February that the Japan Civil

Aviation Bureau has accepted an

application to perform concurrent

type certification work with EASA,

paving the way for the VoloCity to

operate at the 2025 Expo Osaka

Kansai event.

Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation

also has been named as a new

investor, and partner for the type’s

service entry in the country. ◗

See p66


Propulsion Manufacturing

New Rolls-Royce chief tears

into underperformance and

strategic weakness

But Tufan Erginbilgic says he sees

huge potential to turn engine maker’s

finances around and reshape business

David Kaminski-Morrow London

New Rolls-Royce chief executive

Tufan Erginbilgic has

given a withering assessment

of the company’s strategic

and financial performance as

it unveiled its full-year results.

R-R has been “underperforming

for an extended period”, Erginbilgic

said during a presentation

on 23 February.

“Cash generation is unsatisfactory.

Our debt is still too high. Too

much of our gross profit is simply

covering overheads and interest

payments. A weak balance sheet

and sub-investment-grade credit

rating limit our ability to invest in

growth for the future.”

Although the company generated

improved results last year, Erginbilgic

says it cannot rely on market

recovery alone to demonstrate

better performance.

He notes that total shareholder

return over the past five years

reached -67%, showing that the

problem is “not just a Covid issue”.

Even excluding 2020 – when the

pandemic was fiercely affecting

businesses – the company’s average

return on capital employed

was just 3.5%.

R-R has recently completed a

benchmark study, says Erginbilgic,

which confirms that its margins are

“below competition” on a like-forlike

adjusted basis.

It has “not had sufficient strategic

clarity” with which to make

its investment choices, he adds:

“Instead, we’ve been trying to keep

too many options open.”

But Erginbilgic says that the manufacturer

has the potential to be

a “much higher-quality and more

competitive company”, and it can

be in a “much stronger position”.

Erginbilgic argues that the company

can still afford to undertake

further cost-reduction measures

despite the extensive restructuring

carried out during the pandemic.

Previous cost-cutting efforts had

focused on civil aerospace and had

been “activity-driven”, he says.

“Demand disappeared, so Rolls-

Royce did what it needed to do,”

he says, adding he felt the company

had taken the right course of action.

But Erginbilgic says that the

costs have returned as the activities

have recovered.

“Cash generation

is unsatisfactory.

Too much of our

gross profit is

simply covering

overheads”

Tufan Erginbilgic

Chief executive, Rolls-Royce

“What we’re trying to do is really

intervene with that, starting from

this year, and create a more sustainable

and more competitive cost

base,” he says.

Erginbilgic says the issue this

time round is not about managing

liquidity, but putting the company

in a better position.

Large engine flying hours for R-R

increased further last year, but remain

35% below the pre-crisis level

of 2019. It expects this gap to reduce

to 10-20% this year with the

easing of travel restrictions in China.

R-R large civil engine deliveries

reached 190 – down slightly on the

195 handed over in 2021 – among

them 44 spares.

Spare engine deliveries accounted

for 23% of the total, above the

typical figure of 10-15%, because

R-R says it is working to “improve

resilience” for the global fleet.

It expects to have a similar

elevated level of spare-engine deliveries

this year and next.

R-R also handed over 165 engines

to the business aviation sector, up

on the previous figure of 114.

Its civil aviation activity for 2022

included large engine orders from

Malaysia Aviation Group, Qantas

and Norse Atlantic Airways, and

the company stands to benefit

from the recent agreement for Air

India’s fleet renewal that included

Trent XWB-powered Airbus A350s.

But Erginbilgic says R-R, despite

the higher figures, is “capable of

much more”, having benchmarked

its performance against peers.

He says a transformation programme

– including a strategic

review – is underway which will improve

efficiency and commercial

outcome and result in a “sustainable

reduction” in working capital.

The company aims to direct

investment priority to the “most

profitable opportunities”, he says,

adding that it will set out its findings

and medium-term targets in

the second half of this year.

R-R will look at cost efficiencies

and obtaining the “right reward”

for the risks it takes, while each

business unit will derive plans to

address “performance gaps”.

“This will require a winning culture,

underpinned by more effective

performance management and a

shared determination to deliver

cash and reduce debt,” says Erginbilgic.

“Our success will enable us to

reward investors for their support

and invest in future growth.” ◗

Rolls-Royce


Airframer Production

A321 grows into newest FAL

Repurposed from the axed A380 programme, manufacturer’s

most advanced narrowbody assembly line nears readiness

Murdo Morrison Toulouse

Its cavernous halls, 46m (150ft)

ceilings, and giant wall art depicting

the superjumbo over the

Pyrenees give more than a clue to

its previous purpose – but Airbus’s

former A380 Jean-Luc Lagardere

plant in Toulouse is adjusting to its

role as the newest and most technically-advanced

A320-family final

assembly line (FAL).

The conversion activity – launched

in 2020 but placed on hold for more

than a year because of the pandemic

– is part of the airframer’s effort

to provide much-needed capacity

to build the A321. The largest variant

represents more than half of

Airbus’s A320-family backlog, with

the latest iteration, the A321XLR,

soon to begin production.

Airbus is taking time to iron out

glitches with the new operation.

After installing the first workstations

to integrate fuselage sections

in October last year, the manufacturer

says the first A321 will roll out

of the Jean-Luc Lagardere facility

“sometime in 2023”.

The company admits it is cautious

because of the number of new

processes it is introducing. These

range from robot drilling systems

and all-digital documentation to 24

driverless forklifts that will deliver

parts directly to workstations.

The plant – which will only build

A321s – is the fifth factory and

the ninth FAL for the narrowbody

family, with four in Hamburg, two

existing FALs in Toulouse, and

one each in Mobile, Alabama and

Tianjin, China.

Airbus says the new facility will

replace one of its other Toulouse

FALs, but a planned second one

to open in Mobile in 2025 will keep

the total at nine. Only Hamburg

and Mobile are currently set up to

assemble the A321.

Writing history

Unveiling the new assembly line

to the media on 16 February, Airbus

head of new A320-family FAL

operations Marion Smeyers said

the company was “writing another

page in the history” of a type that

was launched almost 40 years ago.

Airbus is “taking everything that

works from other [A320-family]

FALs in Toulouse, Tianjin, Mobile

and Hamburg, and making it better”,

she says.

“Everything has been designed

with ergonomics first. Every feature

has had the input of the people

who will be operating the FAL.”

The Jean-Luc Lagardere facility

will reach full capacity by 2025,

according to Airbus, although the

company is not specific about what

the output split among the various

FALs will be.

“A320 and A321 production will

be split between the FALs in a

balanced way,” Airbus chief executive

Guillaume Faury said during

the company’s annual results presentation

on 16 February.

Airbus says it considered several

potential sites for the new FAL

but selected Toulouse “because of

the opportunity to re-use existing

A380 facilities”.

It has put the available space

to good use – for instance, in one

zone customers are able to see

interior configurations arranged

on the floor. This is important,

says Airbus, because airlines are

deploying longer-range versions

of the A321 on routes that were

previously served by widebodies,

and including premium cabins and

larger galleys.

However, almost half of the

122,000sq m (1,310,000sq ft) facility,

built for the in-development

A380 in 2004, remains empty,

raising the possibility that Airbus

might introduce a second FAL

there in the future. ◗

Airbus

Facility in Toulouse will roll out its

first narrowbody later this year



Crown Copyright

NATO spins up

next-gen rotorcraft programme

Group of alliance members drive forward initiative to

define future medium-class helicopter for coming decades


Prototypes of a next-generation

helicopter destined for

NATO forces could be flying

around 2030 if plans currently

being touted by the alliance

come to fruition.

A group of NATO nations –

France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the

Netherlands and the UK, plus Canada,

which will join this year – are

driving a project called Next Generation

Rotorcraft Capability (NGRC)

with the intention of fielding a new

medium-class helicopter by 2035.

Currently in its early stages, a

programme management office

was set up in late 2022, run by the

NATO Support and Procurement

Agency (NSPA), which is managing

the concept stage.

Work has now begun in earnest

to launch the five concept studies

that will shape the NGRC’s design.

As part of that process, contracts

will be awarded following competitive

tenders to “one to three”

contractors who will “answer this

conceptual review by proposing

a possible design for NGRC”, says

Cyril Heckel, NGRC programme

manager at the NSPA.

Those designs, potentially with

options, alongside a “rough order

of magnitude of through-life costs”

are expected to be delivered in

2025, he says.

Although the steps required to

move NGRC from a concept to

a development programme are

still to be discussed, Heckel sees

a potential need for technology

demonstrators to form part of that

development effort.

“It will be my recommendation

for the possible development

stage that we have some prototyping

activities,” he said, speaking

on the sidelines of Defence

IQ’s International Military Helicopter

(IMH) conference in London on

22 February.

Given the uncertainties around

NGRC’s schedule and future steps,

Heckel says he cannot confirm

when any such prototypes might

fly, but concedes this is likely to

happen “around 2030”.

Collective agreement

Launching a full development programme

would require further

political agreement from the participating

countries, with issues

such as design, workshare, and the

possible admission of other NATO

members still to be addressed.

So far, detailed requirements for

NGRC have not been set. Instead,

a list of “attributes” was released

in May 2021, including capacity for

12-16 fully equipped troops, unrefuelled

range of 900nm (1,650km)

and a spectrum of cruise speeds:

“optimally” this would be 220kt

(408km/h) or above, but must be

“not less than 180kt”.

Speed may be the most contentious

of these attributes among the

current member nations. Delegates

at the IMH event were told that

future rotorcraft for the Italian air

force would need to travel at 250kt,

while French army aviation would

maintain its doctrine of nap-of-theearth

flights at around 100kt.

“We don’t see that high speed

is an advantage. It is a problem of

compromise – we cannot have it all.

That is why we do not place high

speed as our top priority,” says an

official familiar with the French

army’s thinking.

Heckel says the issue “remains

open” and through the concept review

phase high speed “is one of

the attributes we want to explore,

to test, and to see what is feasible”.

The impact of speed on the concept

of operations (ConOps) being

developed as part of NGRC’s first

phase will also be evaluated, says

Heckel, and could lead to further

“evolution” of either the desired

attributes or the ConOps itself, depending

on where priorities lie.

According to the list of attributes,

NGRC should address multiple

missions, across multiple domains,

with a single airframe and a modular

approach.

Heckel says this remains the

programme’s intention: “For the

concept stage it’s good to keep in

mind that we should target only

one common airframe and to push

for this modularity for NGRC.”

However, two variants could

emerge “if we have a quantified

justification” that this is the “best

solution to tackle the entire spectrum

of ConOps”.

Nonetheless, Heckel, mindful of

the lessons learned from the development

of the NH Industries NH90

– another NATO-led multi-national

programme – wants the NGRC project

to avoid a multiplicity of country-specific

variants which would

lead to issues around sustainment.


Defence Technology

Platform could replace UK’s

AW101 Merlins in 2040s

“This configuration management

can be a big challenge for nations.

Our aim is to find common system

to avoid a multiplication of variants

and maximise cost effectiveness

through commonality,” he says.

Five studies are planned as part

of the concept stage: two to three

will be open to industry – covering

the powerplant, and an open

systems architecture – plus the

roughly 18-month-long concept review;

development of the ConOps,

and studies around disruptive

technologies will be monitored by

the NGRC programme office.

Powertrain focus

But the initial focus will be around

the powertrain: this study is to be

launched in the coming weeks – a

pre-solicitation conference will be

held at end of March – and will conclude

in late 2023 or early 2024.

Although NGRC participants

are overwhelmingly drawn from

Europe, because it is a NATO

programme any procurements are

open to companies from across

the alliance – including those from

the USA.

Crucially, that means US

manufacturers Bell and Sikorsky

could propose technologies

or aircraft architectures matured

through the US Army’s Future Vertical

Lift programme.

Sikorsky has confirmed to Flight-

Global that intends to participate

in the NGRC process, but Bell’s

approach may be more nuanced

given the selection – subject to

protest – of its V-280 Valor tiltrotor

for the US Army’s Future Long

Range Assault Aircraft programme.

Assuming the protest is dismissed,

by the time NGRC enters

service in 2035, “the V-280 will already

be at full-rate production”,

notes one Bell insider. ◗

EU-funded project eyes high-speed demonstration

Military demonstration flights of a pair of European high-speed

rotorcraft – the Airbus Racer and Leonardo Helicopters AW609 –

are being contemplated for later this decade under an EU-funded

development programme.

The two airframers are working together on the European Next

Generation Rotorcraft Technology (ENGRT) project that seeks to

mature the technologies required for future vertical-lift platforms.

An initial €40 million ($42 million) has been pledged by the

European Defence Fund for the first phase of the ENGRT effort,

which held a kick-off meeting earlier this year.

Currently focussed on developing a concept of operations for

future rotorcraft, the project foresees a flight demonstration phase

on top of simulations, says David Alfano, next generation military

rotorcraft manager at Airbus Helicopters.

“We will spend quite some time with different kinds of aircraft

and we will assess which kind of capability is really bringing added

value to the mission,” he says.

Airbus is likely to use its Racer high-speed compound technology

demonstrator for the effort. That aircraft is being developed

under the EU’s Clean Sky 2 civil programme and is due to fly later

this year. Leonardo, meanwhile, could offer either the AW609 or,

depending on timing, the Next Generation Civil Tiltrotor (NGCTR),

another Clean Sky 2 project, says Alfano.

Racer and NGCTR are both dedicated civil technology

demonstrators but would be illustrative of the potential

performance gains from new architectures.

Ultimately the two airframers are likely to propose rotorcraft

designs based on their core technologies – a compound helicopter

for Airbus and a tiltrotor for Leonardo – and also a joint design,

potentially using a more conventional architecture, says Alfano.

He stresses that defining exactly “what customers expect” will be

key to the process.

Although the USA has focussed heavily on high-speed through its

Future Vertical Lift initiative – with a baseline performance of 280kt

(520km/h) – Alfano thinks European operators will “have a more

balanced view”. US requirements have been driven by the so-called

‘tyranny of distance’ inherent in the Pacific theatre, a consideration

not shared by their European counterparts.

Speed may still be a factor, but customers may settle simply for

a faster conventional helicopter rather than a novel high-speed

design, Alfano notes.

Draft operational concepts will be produced this year, helping to

shape the programme’s top level requirements.

Airbus is co-ordinating the ENGRT programme, alongside

Leonardo. It also includes a consortium of propulsion, weapon and

sensor suppliers, plus academia and research bodies.



Prototype made an 8min debut

sortie on 27 September 2022

Eviation

Eviation close to

naming Alice suppliers

Pioneering electric aircraft developer is on track to launch

certification campaign in 2025, with chief executive saying

its so-far lone flight has validated performance models

Jon Hemmerdinger Seattle

Several months after performing

the first flight of

its prototype Alice electric

aircraft, Eviation is working

to secure manufacturing partners

and additional funding, but r emains

on track to begin certification flight

testing in 2025.

That is according to chief executive

Gregory Davis, who is well

aware his company is in a market

crowded with other start-ups also

making bold promises.

“We want to be clear with our

customers, clear with our supply

chain and clear with the marketplace:

what we are doing is real,”

Davis tells FlightGlobal. “These are

certainly aggressive targets, but

we are being realistic.”

Based in Arlington, Washington,

Eviation holds the distinction of

having already flown a clean-sheet,

fixed-wing electric aircraft that, in

most regards, looks and flies like

other commuter types. Importantly,

Alice, sitting in the regional air

mobility segment, will operate from

traditional airports using existing

air traffic infrastructure, Davis says.

By contrast, the electric air taxis in

development for urban air mobility

operations may require new certification

and air traffic control

standards, as well as new operating

infrastructure, including ‘vertiports’.

“We’ve designed our aircraft so

that it can operate inside all of these

existing regulations, from certification

through operations, through

airspace and airports,” Davis said

during the Pacific Northwest Aerospace

Alliance’s annual event near

Seattle on 9 February.

At the same conference, AeroDynamic

Advisory managing director

Kevin Michaels agreed that for an

aircraft like Alice, “using the existing

air traffic management system has

the best chance to succeed”.

Within range

Alice is to carry nine passengers

(the regulatory limit for singlepiloted

aircraft), fly at speeds up to

260kt (482km/h) and have about

250nm (463km) of range in visual

flight conditions, plus an additional

30min of reserve flight time. Power

will come from twin Magnix 700kW

Magni650 motors.

Davis estimates Alice’s certification

programme, which will involve

three test aircraft, will start

in 2025 and last 18-20 months,

putting Eviation on track to make

deliveries from 2027. During the

flight-test campaign, the company

plans to begin building its first production-conforming

aircraft.

Much uncertainty remains, including

the difficulty of achieving


(FAA) certification for such a

unique aircraft. The FAA stepped

up its scrutiny following two Boeing

737 Max crashes, leading companies

like Boeing and Gulfstream to

delay certification timelines.

But Davis, who took over from

former Eviation chief executive

Omer Bar-Yohay last year, predicts

Alice will progress relatively

smoothly through the FAA’s review.

Eviation will seek Alice’s certification

as a commuter type under

the FAA’s existing Part 23 regulations,

which apply to aircraft with

maximum take-off weights up to

8,610kg (19,000lb), he says. Alice

will come in at 8,340kg.

Similarly, Magnix intends to

certificate the aircraft’s powerplants

under FAA Part 33 airworthiness

standards for aircraft engines

– “which is an advantage for us,

because then… it’s just an engine,

and it doesn’t matter if it’s electric

or not electric”, Davis says.

Eviation’s Alice prototype took

off for the first time on 27 September

2022, from Moses Lake’s Grant

Eviation


Programme Development

County International airport. During

that 8min flight, the aircraft climbed

to 3,500ft and flew at 160kt – and

Eviation collected “terabytes” of

performance data, Davis says.

Since that first – and still only

– flight, the company has been

evaluating the aircraft’s in-flight

performance, and comparing the

data to expectations. “We’ve had

very good correlation,” Davis says.

“The aircraft performed very closely

to how we modelled it.”

Long-term partners

Eviation will soon disclose more

suppliers. “Most of our focus right

now is… figuring out who’s going to

be the long-term partner suppliers

for the production aircraft,” Davis

says. “You are going to see major

supplier announcements.”

The company has previously

named several suppliers that

worked early on the Alice programme.

GKN Aerospace was manufacturing

wings, empennages and

wiring systems, Honeywell Aerospace

had worked on cooling and

fly-by-wire systems, South Korea’s

Kokam was an early battery supplier,

and Parker Aerospace was

named as suppling cockpit controls,

hydraulics and flap and thermal

management systems.

Because Eviation’s expertise lies

in “electric aircraft design [and]

systems integration” – rather than,

say, composites manufacturing –

its production plan involves significant

outsourcing.

“We’re going to find the best

available supplier for each of the

systems on the aircraft, and we’re

going to use them to help us

integrate the airplane,” Davis says,

adding that Eviation itself will

complete the assembly.

Which company will first operate

Alice remains unclear, but

Massachusetts-based commuter

airline Cape Air is a leading candidate,

having been among the first

to commit to purchasing the type.

The carrier signed a letter of intent

to acquire 75 of the aircraft.

Eviation has now “sold” more

than 300 aircraft, Davis says,

though he declines to specify sales

prices or other details. Some aerospace

analysts say purchase agreements

involving conceptual aircraft

often involve minimal actual money

changing hands – but Davis insists

the agreements are solid: “They are

real orders or very strong expressions

of interest.”

Aside from Cape Air, Mexican

start-up airline Aerus, Air New

Zealand, Australia’s Northern Territory

Air Services, Germany’s Evia

Aero, DHL and US carrier Global

Crossing Airlines have committed

to acquiring Alice.

“These are legitimate airlines

today that are flying short-haul

routes,” Michaels notes.

Alice will likely be recharged

using connectors similar to the

“Combined Charging System” used

widely by the automotive industry,

Davis says, adding that Eviation has

already installed two such systems,

at Moses Lake and Arlington.

Roughly 30min of charging

should provide enough power for

about 1h of flight, and operators

can expect to replace Alice’s batteries

after 3,000h of operation, he

says. “We’ve designed the batteries

with a finite lifecycle so we can

operate with a 30min charge.”

Company will seek to certificate aircraft as

commuter type under existing FAA regulations

Eviation’s earlier round of funding

enabled it to develop the technology

behind Alice and to bring

the aircraft through first flight. “We

are now in the middle of our next

funding round,” Davis says.

He declines to be specific about

Eviation’s financial situation or to

reveal the anticipated cost of developing

and certificating Alice, but

says the expense should be comparable

to that of developing conventionally-powered

commuter aircraft.

AeroDynamic aerospace analyst

Glenn McDonald estimates that

developing and certificating an

aircraft under Part 23 should

cost “much less than” $1 billion.

Based on Alice’s business case,

“development costs can’t be more

than the several-hundred-million

range if the aircraft programme is

going to have an overall positive

return”, he says.

Battery lessons

Completing the first flight suggested

Eviation has recovered from a

setback in January 2020, when another

prototype was destroyed by

fire while on the ground in Prescott,

Arizona. That aircraft’s lithium-ion

batteries ignited due to a “thermal

runaway event”, Davis says.

He calls the incident a “learning

experience” that “certainly

changed the way we approached

things”, prompting Eviation to improve

Alice’s battery management

system. The event also “helped

formulate how we [are] going to

certify and produce safe batteries”.

Following the fire, Eviation

commissioned an accident investigation

that culminated in a several-hundred-page

safety report,

which the company shared with

the FAA and US National Transportation

Safety Board, Davis says.

The report highlighted the “importance

of being able to… monitor

the aircraft battery systems down

to the individual cell level”, he

notes. “We have built that sensor

technology into our battery.”

Alice now has a battery management

system that can control

and “isolate” the individual “subpacks”,

which each contribute

about 1% of total power.

“That will stop a repeat of the

event that we saw,” Davis says,

noting that Alice can continue to

fly safely even if the system shuts

down some of the sub-packs.

“Now we know what we need to

watch out for.” ◗



Pilot error led to F-35C loss

Inexperience with performing high-g recovery manoeuvre

and failure to select approach power compensation system

resulted in January 2022 crash aboard aircraft carrier

Ryan Finnerty Tampa

The US Navy (USN) has

blamed pilot error for the

January 2022 crash of a

Lockheed Martin F-35C

aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl

Vinson which destroyed the fighter

and injured six deck personnel.

In written findings published after

an investigation, Vice Admiral Karl

Thomas, commander of the USN’s

Seventh Fleet, says the incident

followed a “common manoeuvre”

– known as expedited recovery

breaking – but that this had never

been attempted before by the

mishap pilot, or MP.

“As a result of lack of familiarity

with the manoeuvre, the MP lost

situational awareness and failed to

complete his landing check list,”

Thomas says. “Specifically, the MP

remained in manual mode when he

should have been – and thought he

was – in an automated command

mode designed to reduce pilot

workload during landings.

“During an expedited recovery,

an aircraft uses g-forces to decelerate

over the course of a 360° turn,

dropping the landing gear when the

aircraft is below landing gear transition

speed,” the report says.

Landing checks

Notably, when breaking aft of

or overhead the carrier the pilot

has reduced time to configure

the aircraft and conduct landing

checks, the USN says. The report

cites this as a critical factor, alongside

the pilot’s inexperience.

During the incident, the mishap

F-35C was travelling at 400kt

(740km/h) when the pilot executed

a series of 7g breaking turns while

in maximum afterburner to reduce

speed and approach the carrier for

landing. However, the pilot neglected

to engage the approach power

compensation (APC) system: an

onboard tool designed to reduce

workload during landing by automating

some tasks.

Instead, the pilot inadvertently remained

in manual approach mode,

resulting in a high landing approach

made at an airspeed of 180kt – well

above the 140kt the USN says was

ideal for the scenario. The fighter’s

throttle had also been reduced to

idle, according to flight data, which

left the F-35 “extremely underpowered”

on approach for landing.

US Navy

Super Hornet facing

2025 production end

Forty years after the carrier-based

fighter entered use, Boeing outlines

plan to shutter programme following

completion of remaining orders

Jon Hemmerdinger Tampa

Boeing has announced plans

to end production of its

F/A-18E/F Super Hornet

with a last delivery in late

2025, barring the receipt of additional

export orders.

Announcing the decision on 23

February, Boeing said production

work could be extended until 2027

if a new order is received. Current

sales opportunities include an Indian

navy need to acquire a new type

for operation from its aircraft carriers,

where the US design faces competition

from Dassault’s Rafale M.

Boeing and the US Navy (USN)

last year demonstrated the Super

Hornet’s ability to operate from

a ski-jump ramp at Naval Station

Hansa in Goa, in pursuit of the

57-aircraft requirement.

Current backlog

Boeing, which produces F/A-18s

in St Louis, Missouri, has a current

backlog of 76 examples for lead operator

the USN, Cirium data shows.

US Navy

More than 2,000 F/A-18s have been

delivered since type entered service

“We are planning for our future,

and building fighter aircraft is in

our DNA,” says Boeing air dominance

vice-president and St Louis

site leader Steve Nordlund.

“As we invest in and develop

the next era of capability, we are

applying the same innovation and

expertise that made the F/A-18 a

workhorse for the US Navy and air


Defence Fighters

In an attempt to address the high

approach and airspeed, the pilot

made a “nose-down correction”.

However, combined with the lack of

power, this pushed the F-35 below

the required angle of attack (AoA).

The pilot attempted to throttle up

and regain altitude, but was unable

to make the correction in time.

The fighter struck the vessel’s aft

ramp at 123kt, with an AoA of 21°.

Its nose landing gear was crushed

by the impact, sending the aircraft

Automated command mode was not

activated before attempted landing

skidding across the flight deck. The

pilot ejected before the aircraft

fell overboard, but six flight deck

personnel were injured by debris.

The USN in early March 2022

recovered the wrecked F-35,

which had sunk to the floor of the

South China Sea. Its fuselage was

raised from a depth of approximately

2,400ft.

Following the crash, the service

changed its F-35C flight manual to

require the use of the APC system

for carrier landings. Vice Admiral

Kenneth Whitesell, commander

of naval aviation in the US Pacific

Fleet, says it will also consult with

Lockheed and Boeing about adding

an “external indicator” to the F-35

and F/A-18 that would alert landing

signal officers on the carrier flight

deck if the APC is turned off.

Whitesell also wants to add a

head-up display indicator and/

or cockpit audio tone that would

alert pilots when their aircraft has

“reached on-speed AoA” without

assisted landing systems engaged.

Limited fleet

The crash aboard the USS Carl

Vinson represents the only loss to

date of the F-35 in its carrier variant

– the smallest sub-fleet of the

stealth fighter in active use.

Cirium fleets data shows that

70 of the C-model fighters are

in service with the USN and US

Marine Corps, with another 16 currently

on order.

The services have a programme

of record requirement to eventually

acquire 340 of the carrier-optimised

version, along with the more

widely fielded short take-off and

vertical landing F-35B. ◗

forces around the world for nearly

40 years,” he says.

The company notes that it plans

to build “three new state-of-theart

facilities” and recruit additional

workers in St Louis for the next

five years to support several of its

newer defence programmes. These

include the F-15EX Eagle II fighter

and T-7A Red Hawk advanced jet

trainer, both in production for the

US Air Force, and the USN’s in-development

MQ-25 Stingray autonomous

carrier-based refuelling aircraft.

The site also produces wing

components for the new-generation

777X commercial widebody.

News that the F/A-18’s curtain

is to close came 45 years after

long-defunct McDonnell Douglas

first flew the twin-engined Hornet

in 1978. Boeing acquired McDonnell

Douglas in 1997. More than

2,000 F/A-18s have been delivered

since the first-generation version

entered service in 1983.

Worthy successor

The originally GE Aerospace

F404-powered type was developed

as a successor for the USN’s

venerable McDonnell Douglas F-4

Phantoms and Vought A-7 Corsairs.

The updated Super Hornet first

flew in 1995, and entered USN

service in 1999. Boeing began deliveries

of an upgraded Block II

version from 2005, and of its latest

Block III model in 2021.

International customers for the

F/A-18A-D “Classic” Hornet included

Australia, Canada, Finland, Kuwait,

Malaysia, Spain and Switzerland.

The USN and Australia now operate

F414-powered Super Hornets,

as well as the EA-18G Growler electronic

attack-variant, while Kuwait

is obtaining 22 F/A-18Es.

Cirium data used in FlightGlobal’s

2023 World Air Forces directory

shows that there were 1,274 F-18-

series aircraft in service late last

year, including 283 used as dedicated

training assets.

Boeing says it will continue supporting

the type, including by

rolling out upgrades and through

work under a service-life extension

programme which is expected to

continue through the mid-2030s.

The company’s decision to shutter

production follows a series of unsuccessful

bids to secure new sales

of the type, via campaigns in nations

including Classic Hornet operators

Canada, Finland and Switzerland –

all of which have opted to acquire

Lockheed Martin’s fifth-generation

F-35A stealth fighter. ◗

Additional reporting by

Craig Hoyle in London


Staffing Strategy

US major is negotiating new

contracts with pilot unions

AirTeamImages

Closing the gap

United executive believes a regulation-driven pilot shortage

and consequent wage inflation will strengthen legacy carriers’

position against low-cost rivals as airlines scrabble for crews

Jon Hemmerdinger Tampa

A

shortage of pilots will

increasingly erode the

cost advantages that have

been long enjoyed by US

discount carriers, while improving

the competitive position of giants

like United Airlines.

At least, that is the view of

United’s head of corporate development

Michael Leskinen, who on 23

February pointed to the USA’s controversial

“1,500-hour” rule – which

mandates pilot experience levels –

as driving the change, something he

calls a “new paradigm”.

“We have never had a better setup,”

says Leskinen, speaking during

a Barclays investor conference.

“The set-up we have over the next

three to five years is better than anything

I’ve ever seen in my career.”

Leskinen backed his comments

by describing broad changes now

affecting the US airline industry.

Carriers, he says, are unable to

expand their fleets as quickly as

they would like due to Airbus and

Boeing being unable to keep up

with delivery commitments – a

result of aerospace manufacturing

supply constraints.

On top of this, a constrained

supply of pilots will increasingly

hinder the ability of ultra-low-cost

carriers (ULCCs) and low-cost

carriers (LCCs) to maintain their

competitive advantages.

“There is no carrier out there –

whether it’s a regional carrier, an

LCC or a ULCC – that can attract

pilots unless [they] want to pay the

going rate,” says Leskinen. “The

incremental capacity from legacy

carriers is going to be [at] similar

cost, or lower cost, than incremental

capacity coming from the ultralow-cost

carriers.”

In search of flightcrew, some US

airlines – notably regional carriers

– have significantly hiked pay in recent

years, even offering $100,000

bonuses to new hires.

Large legacy carriers – American

Airlines, Delta Air Lines and

United – are now negotiating new

contracts with their pilot unions.

However, some ultra-discounters

have several more years to go

before their flightcrew contracts

become amendable.

Competitive advantage

Those discussions will determine

the degree to which discounters

will be able to maintain their chief

competitive edge.

As things now stand, the USA’s

three primary ULCCs – Allegiant

Air, Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines

– enjoy a wide cost advantage.

Last year, the trio reported a

combined, average cost per available

seat mile (CASM) of 11.4 cents,

while the same combined figure for

American, Delta and United’s was

62% higher, coming in at 18.5 cents,

financial filings show.

Frontier chief executive Barry

Biffle insisted in September last

year that industry trends are poised

to leave his airline with a cost

advantage better than any US carrier

has enjoyed for decades.

Leskinen points to the USA’s comparatively

strict new-pilot experience

requirement as contributing

to the shortage of crews. That rule,

which took effect in 2013, requires

new pilots, with some exceptions,

to have 1,500h of flight time before

they can work at an airline. Previously,

the baseline was 250h.

“There are not a lot of productive

activities in the world to go from

250h to 1,500h,” Leskinen says.

“There is no quick fix to that, which

means the industry is going to be

chronically under-supplied [with]

pilots for three to five years.”

The 1,500h rule has backing from

some lawmakers and from unions

like the Air Line Pilots Association,

International. Supporters insist

the mandate, which came about

following a deadly 2009 crash, has

improved safety.

But critics have widely blamed

it for causing the pilot shortage

without achieving safety goals.

They say new pilots would be better

prepared for airline jobs by joining

carriers earlier, rather than spending

several years building hours

by, for instance, towing banners or

flight instructing.

Consultancy Oliver Wyman says

the North American airline industry

this year faces an 18% gap between

pilot supply and demand.

“The pilot shortage has pushed

up salaries, especially at the entry

level,” the consultancy said in a

report released on 23 February. ◗


Investment Production

UAE investment bankrolls the

return of SuperJet International

Relaunch plan envisages new assembly line for SSJ100 in

Al Ain, but questions remain around project’s feasibility


SuperJet International (SJI),

the former joint venture between

Italian firm Leonardo

and Russia’s United Aircraft

(UAC), is bidding to make an unlikely

comeback, including plans to

relaunch production of the SSJ100

regional jet at a new site in the

United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Central to the effort – subject to

Italian and Russian government approvals

– is the sale of UAC’s 49%

stake in Venice-based SJI to UAEbased

Mark AB Capital Investments,

which would join existing shareholders

Studio Guidotti International

(41%) and Leonardo (10%).

“With [ratification] of this agreement,

UAC shall effectively exit the

Superjet programme,” says SJI.

But it is unclear what exactly stateowned

UAC will exit. The manufacturer

has been pressing ahead with

the development of a ‘Russified’

version of the Superjet – stripped

of Western content and branded

as the Irkut SSJ-New – which has

already attracted large orders

from Russian airlines.

It would seem

impossible for

UAC to abandon

those plans given

the needs of

Russian carriers for

domestically-built jets due to their

international isolation on the back

of the war with Ukraine.

Therefore, if SJI does relaunch

production, the result could be two

very similar regional aircraft on

the market. SJI did not respond to

questions about this issue.

SJI’s shares and assets have been

frozen since Russia’s invasion of its

neighbour in February 2022, resulting

in a skeleton workforce of

110 employees being retained at its

Venice Tessera airport facility.

The new ownership envisages

a “relaunch plan” through which

€190 million ($201 million) would

be injected into the company, the

majority – €110 million – going to

the Venice site.

Continuous development

SJI says the investment will

“support the development of new

aircraft configurations, the construction

of the new branch in the

UAE, as well as the continuous

development of the aircraft to address

market competition.”

It plans to establish a new final

assembly line for the jet at Al Ain

International airport, which would

build ‘green’ aircraft for completion

in Venice. SJI was previously responsible

for sales and marketing

of the SSJ100 to western customers,

and completion, delivery and

support of those aircraft.

SJI sees a potential requirement

for at least 240 aircraft, including

passenger, freighter and VIP versions,

“most of which will be for the

UAE and Indian markets”.

However, substantial challenges

would need to be overcome before

production can start, particularly

around re-establishing the SSJ100’s

supply chain.

Notably, new engines would need

to be sourced to replace the previous

SaM146 turbofans from Power-

Jet, a joint venture between Safran

of France and Russia’s NPO Saturn.

SJI does not say when it expects

the first aircraft to roll off the Al Ain

production line, nor how it proposes

to recreate the jet’s supplier base.

In an interview in Gulf News, Mark

AB chief executive Abdullah Al

Qubaisi said the Al Ain factory – a

claimed $180 million investment –

will be finished in 2025 and initially

produce 10-15 aircraft per year.

In addition to completions activities,

the Venice site will be the Design

Organisation Authority and

Production Organisation Authority

for the SSJ100.

It will also retain responsibility

for marketing and sales activities,

installation of aircraft

options, pilot and crew

training, final flight

tests, deliveries,

and customer

support. ◗

SuperJet International

New engines would need to be sourced,

given jet’s strong Russian heritage


Interiors Update

Lufthansa offers a different Klasse

German carrier banks on €2.5 billion investment in new cabins

and product differentiation to boost its long-haul business

Graham Dunn Berlin

Just a few years ago, airlines

were stumbling through the

pandemic, hesitant to make

long-term plans amid incredible

uncertainty.

But Lufthansa’s €2.5 billion ($2.6

billion) long-haul product investment

– disclosed on 28 February in

Berlin – is another signal that airlines

are finally looking beyond the crisis.

Alongside the sheer scale of the

programme – Lufthansa plans to

retrofit existing long-haul aircraft

and to receive more than 80 new

widebodies with enhanced interiors

– the airline’s updated product

strategy banks on the appeal of

customisation and choice.

Its new “Allegris” cabin products

straddle four classes – from economy

to first. But the carrier will also

offer various seating options within

the same classes, for instance

including seven distinct products

within business class.

“We are out of the pandemic,”

Lufthansa Airlines chief executive

Jens Ritter tells FlightGlobal. “We

are working on our future, and this is

an expression of our understanding

of premium. It’s a premium product,

but it’s individual and smart.”

Lufthansa will debut its new

business-, premium-economyand

economy-class offerings on

a Boeing 787-9 this year that is

expected to arrive in September; it

is likely to operate on routes to the

USA, says Ritter.

The jet will have 28 business-class

seats (including four suites), 28

premium-economy and 231 economy

seats – 34 of which will have

extra legroom.

Meanwhile, the latest iteration of

the first-class product will appear

on newly-delivered Airbus A350-

900s next year. Those aircraft will

be configured with three first-class

suites (seating up to four passengers

each), 38 business-class

seats (including eight suites), 24

premium-economy seats and 201

economy seats, including 22 with

more room to stretch.

Lufthansa

“All our new aircraft, like the

A350 and the Dreamliner, will get

the new product, but we will also

retrofit the current fleet,” including

A330s, A350s and 747-8s, Ritter

adds. Lufthansa hopes to complete

the retrofit programme in the

2025-2026 period, by which time it

is scheduled to be taking delivery

of new 777-9 widebodies.

In total, the project involves some

27,000 new seats.

Suite spot

Notably, Lufthansa’s new business-class

offering will include seven

distinct options: single and double

suites, two seats that combine

into a “double” seat, seats that convert

into an “extra-long bed”, seats

with extra space, window seats,

window seats with a baby bassinet,

and even a “classic” business seat.

Another innovation includes the

option to heat or cool the seat, a

functionality also available in first

class. Lufthansa’s head of customer

experience design Kai Peters says:

“That’s something you know from

your car, but you haven’t seen it in

an aircraft before. We are the first

to introduce it.”

Three manufacturers will provide

Lufthansa’s new business-class

seats: Stelia Aerospace, Collins

Aerospace and Thompson

Aero Seating. “It is good for us,

Business-class seating offers

seven options, including suites

otherwise you are dependent on a

single source,” says Ritter.

Lufthansa’s new first-class cabins

will have a “Suite Plus” – double

cabins with doors, ceiling-high

walls, tables and two seats that

combine to make a double bed. Ritter

says demand for first-class seats

remains strong. “We are convinced

our passengers will book our new

first-class, especially when they

have the choice between [a] single

suite and double suite,” he says.

Lufthansa’s new premium-economy

seats, made by Zim Aircraft

Seating, will be enclosed in a fixed

shell, so that trays and screens will

not be affected when a passenger

in front reclines their seat.

Recaro is developing its new

economy seat, which Lufthansa

Group intends to install on aircraft

operated by its other subsidiaries.

Passengers will be able to pay

for economy seats with additional

legroom and for adjacent economy

seats to remain unoccupied.

Ritter believes Lufthansa’s launch

timing is ideal: “Especially after the

crisis, the business passengers are

coming back, the corporate travellers

are coming back. But also the

leisure traffic [is] at a high level.

Those families that would like to fly

on holidays to the US and leisure

destinations, they ask [for] and

demand… a premium product.” ◗



Geese trials to

further fello’fly pairing

Carriers Air France and French Bee sign up to

support Airbus assessment of formation flying

as means of increasing operating efficiency

and reducing fuel consumption

Airbus


Airbus is pressing ahead

with plans to bring its

fello’fly vortex recovery

system (VRS) into commercial

service later this decade

and will further refine the concept

– and its integration into airline

operations – with another round

of flight tests conducted through a

European research project.

Carriers Air France and French

Bee will supply A350 widebodies

for the effort – known as Geese –

which is being part funded by the

EU’s SESAR air traffic management

research body.

In addition to the test flights,

the carriers will also analyse the

integration of the aircraft pairing

process in their operations centres.

Geese also involves Eurocontrol

and air navigation service providers

from Bulgaria (BULATSA),

France (DNSA), Ireland (IAA),

Lithuania (ON) and the UK (NATS),

alongside air traffic management

technology providers Frequentis

and Indra.

Fello’fly sees a pair of aircraft flying

in formation, one around 1.5nm

(3km) behind the other, allowing

the trailing jet to benefit from the

lift generated by the preceding aircraft’s

vortices, reducing the thrust

required from its engines.

A flight trial carried out in

November 2021 using a pair of

Airbus-owned A350s on a route

between Toulouse and Montreal

in Canada validated the concept,

which the airframer says could generate

fuel savings of around 5%.

5%

Projected fuel saving of the vortex

recovery concept, in which one aircraft

flies around 1.5nm behind another

But in order to achieve an

objective of entering service by

the end of the decade, the airframer

must thoroughly validate

the concept of operations for

fello’fly, detailing how aircraft will

be paired, their optimum rendezvous

point, their routing and other

considerations, says project leader

Jonathan Beck.

“We have to progress on the operation

and seek alignment of the

industry as a whole,” he says.

Under the three-year Geese initiative

– its name is a nod to the

wildfowl formations that inspired

fello’fly – Airbus and its partners will

build what Beck calls a “common

simulation platform” allowing early

testing of operational concepts.

“By plugging into that simulator

more and more data – and more

and more live data – at some point

we will be able to mimic the operation

until we are confident enough

that we can do dry runs,” he says.

This will see Air France’s control

centre supplied with updated flight

plans for a rendezvous as though

one of its jets had been paired with

a suitable partner.

“It will be a very step-by-step

approach, gaining confidence at

each step,” says Beck.

He hopes that flight trials will

be able to begin within two to

three years of the project’s official

mid-2023 start date. Although Air

France and French Bee are the only

disclosed airline participants so far,

Beck is hopeful that others will sign

up before the start of flights to

ensure a wider geographic spread.

Airbus


Environment Airlines

“When we did the transatlantic

flight achieving the rendezvous

was relatively easy; now we want

to see how fello’fly is deployable

at a large scale”

Jonathan Beck Fello’fly project leader, Airbus

However, there are plenty of

practical considerations to be

hammered out before Geese reaches

that point.

For example, where is the ideal

point during the cruise phase for

the two aircraft to join? “We want

it to be as soon as possible to save

as much energy as possible, but we

have to account for the delays that

will happen for operational reasons,”

he says. In other words, there will be

a natural lag caused by all the steps

required – the pairing, transmission

of the changed flight-plan to crews,

its validation by air traffic control –

before the jets link up.

Managing separation

“When we did the transatlantic

flight [in November 2021] both

aircraft departed from Toulouse

with little separation between

them, so achieving the rendezvous

was relatively easy; now we want

to see how fello’fly is deployable at

a large scale,” adds Beck.

There is also the thorny question

of how to decide which aircraft is

the leader and which is the follower.

While a heavier aircraft would

arguably benefit the most from

being in the trail, it also generates

bigger vortices, creating more lift

for its partner, and so would be

better positioned in front.

While the decision in some cases

may come down to a commercial

agreement between carriers, Beck

says other factors may come into

play, such as whether both crews

are trained to fly in either position.

Crucially, Boeing has been recruited

to the project to ensure “we

align the concept of operations

across OEMs”, says Beck.

“Part of the discussion we want

to have is around the interoperability

of different aircraft types for

formation flying.”

A suitable fello’fly partner should

have a similar cruising speed and

altitude, says Beck, with the basic

rule that one aircraft works well

with another of the same type. But

some “cross-combinations” also

work, such as the A350 and A380,

and he sees “some potential” for

co-ordination between the A350

and the Boeing 787.

Launch of the system will be with

the A350, because “it’s our most

Activity is focused on using

a pair of A350 widebodies

recent aircraft with the best connectivity

and best avionics systems”,

but in the longer term there is “no

reason” it could not be extended to

the A330neo or even A321XLR.

Theoretically, the benefits of

fello’fly could extend to any number

of aircraft in a suitable formation,

but in practice this will be

confined initially to just a pair “because

operationally it is already

very complex”, says Beck.

Contrail formation

In addition to the fuel-saving – and

therefore carbon dioxide emissions

reduction – benefits of the VRS, it

could also have a positive impact on

contrail formation, says Beck, which

will be assessed by Germany’s DLR

aerospace research institute.

Outside of the Geese project,

Airbus is evaluating what changes,

if any, will be required to the aircraft

themselves, along with certification

assessment, to enable a commercial

roll-out of fello’fly.

“It will take a few more years to

assess whether it fits with the A350

system with as little modification

as possible,” he says. Airbus will

also work with European, and later

US, regulators on the certification

aspects of the project.

Beck is hopeful that changes can

be confined to a software update

rather than any retrofit programme.

As tested, the flight-control and

auto-thrust systems on the trailing

aircraft maintain its position laterally

and vertically relative to the

vortex and between the jet in front.

“We are able to maintain a globally

constant separation between the

two aircraft,” he says.

Initially developed by the airframer’s

UpNext innovation arm,

responsibility for fello’fly has since

transferred to Airbus’s commercial

aircraft unit. ◗


Defence Technology

C-17 fleet plays a key role in

providing logistics resupply

USAF eyes autonomous airlifters

Service funds Reliable Robotics to explore feasibility of

operating its transport aircraft in uncrewed applications

US Air Force

Ryan Finnerty Tampa

Reliable Robotics has been

contracted by the US Air

Force (USAF) to study the

feasibility of a fully autonomous

cargo aircraft capability.

“This contract furthers our focus

on automation of large, multiengine

jet aircraft,” says David

O’Brien, the company’s senior

vice-president of government solutions.

“Our vision is to provide remote

piloting capability to a wide

variety of aircraft,” he adds.

Mountain View, California-based

Reliable Robotics says it will examine

the potential for uncrewed,

multi-engined transport jets, including

full and partial automation

features for cargo operations.

The company is developing a system

“that enables continuous autopilot

engagement through all phases

of flight, including taxi, [and]

take-off and landing, with a remote

pilot supervising operations”.

It is pursuing certification of the

technology – which it describes as

an “advanced navigation and auto-flight

system” – with the US Federal

Aviation Administration (FAA).

The USAF says the “novel approach”

offered by Reliable Robotics

would allow legacy aircraft to be

equipped with automation kits – a

capability that would help address

gaps in the US Department of Defense’s

global logistics enterprise.

“This is of great value to the

US government,” the USAF says.

“It will help solve the demand of

short- to medium-range point-topoint

logistics without the need to

manufacture new aircraft, which

will ensure critical logistics are

available at speed and scale to all

regions of the country.”

In addition to constraints on new

aircraft development, the requirement

for fully-rested pilots and

crew is a potentially limiting factor

for airborne logistics during

crises. Additionally, crewed aircraft

can take fewer risks in contested

airspace during conflict.

With US defence officials increasingly

focused on preparing

for possible hostilities with China

in the Western Pacific region, the

USAF is pushing its aircraft – and

crews – to new limits.

Wide dispersal

In January, the USAF conducted the

largest-ever launch of Boeing C-17s

from a single location. Twenty-four

of the strategic transports took off

from Charleston, South Carolina

and dispersed across the region to

drop paratroopers, refuel Boeing

AH-64 Apache attack helicopters

on the ground and distribute heavy

weapons and communication systems

at multiple landing sites.

The USAF says the exercise

demonstrated its ability to “rapidly

generate and project overwhelming

air power”. However, that ability

currently almost entirely depends

on human pilots in the cockpit and

planning staff on the ground.

And one of the service’s Boeing

KC-46A tankers completed a record-setting

36h endurance flight

last November, travelling 14,000nm

(25,928km) on a nonstop, round

trip from the northeast USA to the

central Pacific island of Guam.

While the USAF may be thinking

about reducing its need for pilots,

Reliable Robotics says its automation

systems can also reduce crew

workload in the air.

“Higher-precision navigation, sophisticated

flight planning capabilities

and more-robust flight controls

better manage aircraft and environmental

conditions and improve

safety with or without onboard

crew,” says the company, which

is also marketing its autonomous

technologies to civilian operators.

“Once certified [by the FAA],

Reliable’s system will reduce the

occurrence of common causes of

fatal aviation accidents, such as

controlled flight into terrain and

loss of control,” it says.

The new study is the latest in a series

of related efforts by the US military,

which is pursuing automation

across its full portfolio of aircraft.

The US Air Force Research Laboratory,

Defense Advanced Research

Projects Agency and Lockheed

Martin are currently flight-testing

an X-62A – a modified Lockheed

F-16D – and assessing its control by

artificial intelligence (AI) “agents”.

Last December, this work involved

a dozen flights conducted

from Edwards AFB, California,

during which the jet autonomously

demonstrated “advanced fighter

techniques” including “one- onone

beyond-visual-range engagements

against a simulated adversary,

and within-visual-range

manoeuvring against constructive

AI ‘red-team’ agents”.

The USAF also is hosting a public

competition to develop an AI tool to

assist with planning aerial logistics. ◗


Unmanned systems Programmes

UAV additions to boost Royal Navy

Modified Camcopter surveillance type will be fielded from

next year in Gulf, with additional cargo assets also envisaged


The UK Royal Navy (RN) is

pushing ahead with the development

of a trio of uncrewed

rotary-wing systems

– Peregrine, Proteus and Primus –

which it views as “pathfinders” for

the introduction of next-generation

pilotless aircraft.

Rear Admiral James Parkin, the

service’s director develop, says as

part of a shift in “philosophy” the

RN is increasingly focused on the

“integration of the most modern

systems into the Fleet Air Arm as

soon as possible”. It sees these as

adding to, rather than replacing, its

conventional helicopters.

Highlighting the loyal wingman or

remote carrier unmanned aircraft

being developed to augment costly

manned sixth-generation fighters,

Parkin suggests the same dynamics

hold true for other operations.

“The requirement for additional

mass is no less important in the

maritime rotary-wing sphere –

embracing autonomy where possible

is the right step to achieving

this mass,” he says.

New capabilities like Peregrine

and Proteus are “pathfinders in this

journey and the first examples of

the future maritime aviation force”,

he said during Defence IQ’s International

Military Helicopter Conference

in London on 21 February.

Announced on 10 February, a

Peregrine deal addresses an urgent

capability requirement for persistent

surveillance from RN frigates

deployed in the Gulf.

To be fielded from 2024, Peregrine

sees the integration of a Schiebel

S-100 Camcopter – fitted with a

Thales I-Master synthetic aperture

radar and electro-optical/infrared

sensor – into the combat management

system of RN Type 23 frigates.

It will work alongside embarked

Leonardo Helicopters Wildcat

HMA2 rotorcraft under a roughly

£20 million ($24.2 million), two-year

award, with options to extend.

Persistent watch

Although the Wildcat will remain

the “backbone” of the navy’s

“ship-embarked maritime aviation

force for years to come”,

costs and endurance limitations

require another platform to deliver

round-the-clock surveillance,

Parkin says. “We can reserve our

expensive but supremely capable

crewed aircraft for the missions

only they can do,” he adds.

The Peregrine aircraft itself is

“not a particularly ground-breaking

system”, Parkin says, “but what

makes it exciting to us is its integration

into the ship itself.”

As Peregrine and successor

systems mature, “within 10 to 15

years we will be able to deliver

most of our airborne findings from

uncrewed systems such as this”,

he says. The RN is also “working

towards delivering strike capabilities

using similar platforms”.

Similarly, the Leonardo Helicopters

AW101 Merlin HM2 “is likely

to remain our primary airborne

find, fix and strike platform until

at least the mid-2040s”, says Parkin,

despite a £60 million contract

awarded last July to the company

to develop an unmanned technology

demonstrator for the anti-submarine

warfare mission.

Called Proteus, that aircraft will

have a maximum take-off weight

of around 3t and a payload of over

1,000kg (2,200lb). First flight is

scheduled for 2025.

Parkin says the RN will use Proteus

to evaluate the potential of

an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) to

perform “some of the more routine

jobs”, such as deploying and monitoring

a sonobuoy field, cargo transport,

and even casualty evacuation.

The trio will be rounded out by

Primus, a concept demonstrator

which Parkin describes as a “logistics

solution for our surface combatants

that might not have embarked

aircraft on board”. With a payload

capacity of 250kg, the cargo UAV

will help to “reduce the reliance on

crewed helicopters”, he says.

Currently in its competition

phase, Parkin is hopeful that a

Primus winner will be selected later

this year, allowing the start of operations

in 2024. Should the evaluation

prove successful, the RN would

look to roll out the remotely piloted

capability more widely, potentially

moving to autonomous operation

in a future iteration. ◗

Crown Copyright

Peregrine’s sensor payload includes

an I-Master synthetic aperture radar


Defence Programmes

India advances key projects

Nation details ambitious efforts to design a future class of

combat aircraft and utility helicopters for domestic operation

Atul Chandra Bengaluru

Fresh progress has been made

with indigenous efforts to

develop new fighter aircraft

and transport helicopters for

the Indian armed forces.

The nation’s Advanced Medium

Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme

has reached the critical

design phase, while preliminary

design of the navy’s Twin Engine

Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF) also

is under way.

Girish Deodhare, head of India’s

Aeronautical Development Agency,

says the AMCA is expected to

be ready for service in 2032, with

an optionally manned variant also

being considered for development.

The fly-by-wire-controlled AMCA

and TEDBF platforms feature radically

different layouts. The air force

design incorporates low observable

features, with a twin-tail design and

an internal weapons bay. It will also

have more powerful engines than

the navy product, which uses a conventional

delta wing configuration

with canards, and will have two GE

Aerospace F414-INS6 engines.

Domestic radar

Speaking to FlightGlobal at the

Aero India show in Bengaluru,

Deodhare said the related

develop ment of the indigenous

Uttam active electronically

scanned array radar is progressing

well, and that there is no question

of imported radars being considered

for either programme.

A modified version of the indigenously

developed Astra beyondvisual-range

air-to-air missile will

be carried within the AMCA’s internal

weapons bay, in addition to

other locally developed weapons.

Meanwhile, the Indian air force

has shared its preliminary staff

qualitative requirements for the

AMCA programme. The service

has plans to induct 108 aircraft,

sufficient for six squadrons, from

2035. The Indian navy is looking

to acquire about 45 TEDBF aircraft

by 2040.

Jagadeesh NV/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Also at Aero India, Hindustan

Aeronautics (HAL) detailed its progress

with the Indian Multi-Role

Helicopter (IMRH) programme.

Executive director G Syam Nath

says the IMRH design has been

frozen, with HAL awaiting formal

government clearance to proceed

with the until-now company-funded

programme. Overall development

costs are expected to exceed

Rs150 billion ($1.9 billion).

Nath estimates a total requirement

for 400 helicopters from the

Indian military, including the air

force, which plans to begin phasing

out its Mil Mi-17s in 2028.

$1.9bn

Minimum overall development costs

for the IMRH programme, according

to Hindustan Aeronautics

HAL’s next activity will be to

launch a detailed design phase,

which Nath expects to conclude

around 2025. Design and development

activities should take about

eight years, meaning that a military-certified

helicopter could be

delivered post-2031.

Prototype helicopters will begin

test flights using engines already

AMCA will have a twin-tail design

and use an internal weapons bay

available on the market. However,

these deliver 20% less power than

the requirements for the IMRH platform.

HAL and Safran Helicopter

Engines have entered into a workshare

agreement to develop a new

powerplant for the rotorcraft.

Performance upgrade

The rotorcraft’s army variant will

have a gross weight of 13t, slightly

exceeding the navy version’s

planned 12.5t. The aircraft will be

able to seat 24 troops, increasing to

36 in a high-density configuration.

The IMRH is to have a service ceiling

of 21,300ft, a maximum cruise

speed of 145kt (270km/h), an

endurance of 3h and the ability to

carry a 4,000kg (8,820lb) payload.

Nath says the rotorcraft will

exceed the performance of Mi-17

variants in every respect, including

speed and payload. The

design’s five-bladed main rotor

will match the dimensions of the

Russian-built Mi-171V.

A scale model of the IMRH’s

army variant displayed at the

show depicted the helicopter with

stub-wings mounting rocket and

gun pods, a chin-mounted electro-optical/infrared

sensor, and a

defensive aids suite.

Compared with a full-scale mockup

first displayed in 2017, the design’s

transmission has been moved

in front of the engine intakes. ◗



Boeing

Boeing secured a potentially $1.2 billion US

Air Force contract to produce two prototype

737NG-based E-7 surveillance aircraft

Best of the rest

We showcase some of the other

notable events covered by the

FlightGlobal team between issues

ITA Airways launched scheduled flights with

its first Airbus A320neo, connecting Rome

Fiumicino and Palermo’s Punta Raisi airport

ITA Airways

Mike Fuchslocher/Shutterstock

IAG agreed terms to acquire the remaining

80% of Spanish carrier Air Europa from

Globalia, pending regulatory approvals


Highlights

Singapore pledged to acquire another eight

Lockheed Martin F-35Bs, with its air force to

have a dozen examples by late this decade

The US Navy ordered the first 10 of a planned 64 Beechcraft King

Air 260 trainers, to be flown under the service designation T-54A

Textron Aviation

BAE Systems Australia unveiled its

Strix unmanned vertical take-off

and landing concept, designed

for ground-attack missions

BAE Systems Australia

US Marine Corps

Scoot

Scoot will take nine Embraer E190-E2s

from lessor Azorra, with deliveries to the

low-cost carrier running from 2024-2025


May’s issue

Next month

Our

pre-EBACE

review of the

business

aviation

sector

On sale

27 April

Bombardier

Karolis Kavolelis/Shutterstock

Staying power

How IAE’s

V2500 keeps

delivering

after 40

years of

service

VanderWolf Images/Shutterstock

Big fleet

We assess

the NH90’s

success as

consortium

delivers 500th

example


The defence world is fast waking up to the

profound influence climate change will have on

warfare. How will this impact play out and can the

sector manage its greenhouse gas emissions?

Carbon

problem

Mark Pilling London

There was hardly a whisper about the topic

of climate change during Abu Dhabi’s IDEX

defence show in late February. The only

mention of the element carbon were enquiries

about the carbonfibre used in making the numerous

unmanned air vehicles on display.

In an increasingly unstable world – where there is a

war being waged in Europe, and heightened tensions

in many geographies including the Asia-Pacific region

– the throng of tri-service visitors to IDEX could be

forgiven for ignoring the defence sector’s carbon

footprint. Unlike the commercial aviation world, it is

simply not top priority.

However, military leaders are waking up to the

challenge. “Climate change is reshaping the increasingly

complex global security environment and the

department of the air force must adapt and respond

to that threat,” secretary of the US Air Force (USAF)

Frank Kendall wrote in his introduction to the service’s

Climate Action Plan in October 2022.

Security environment

“We must prioritise air and space dominance in a

security environment shaped by a changing climate,

yet also recognise and reduce the department’s role

in contributing to climate change,” Kendall says.

“Department capabilities that provide air and space

dominance and global reach are fed by a steady diet

of fossil fuel, representing the bulk of the Defense

Department’s carbon footprint and a continual

burden on our changing climate.”

During its annual summit in Madrid in June 2022,

NATO’s new Strategic Concept recognised for

the first time “climate change as a major security

c hallenge for NATO in the decade to come”.

At the summit, the first high-level dialogue on

climate change and security brought together

NATO allies with partner nations and other global

“Climate

change is

reshaping the

increasingly

complex

global security

environment

and the department of the

air force must adapt and

respond to that threat”

Frank Kendall Secretary of the US Air Force

US Air Force


Environment Defence

The US Air Force’s daily operations rely

on a ‘steady diet of fossil fuel’ usage

US Air Force

stakeholders. “From the High North to the Sahel,

climate change is a crisis multiplier,” NATO secretary

general Jens Stoltenberg notes.

“More extreme weather devastates communities,

and fuels tensions and conflicts,” he says. “Climate

change matters for our security, so it matters for

NATO. That is why NATO is determined to set the

gold standard on addressing the security implications

of climate change.”

The military leaders who are seeking to understand

the impact of climate change on warfare are clear

there must be boundaries.

“We cannot compromise our military effectiveness,”

Stoltenberg says. “NATO is about preserving peace

through a credible deterrence and defence. Nothing

is more important. If we fail to preserve peace, we will

also fail to fight climate change.”

“Our mission remains unchanged, but we

recognise that the world is facing ongoing

and accelerating climate change and we must

be prepared to respond, fight, and win in this

constantly changing world,” says Kendall.

Major General Karsten Stoye, the head of

Eurocontrol’s Civil-Military Co-operation Division, last

year wrote: “In defence, a suboptimal operational

outcome is not acceptable, because our opponents

may not be under the same constraints.

“Until new technologies offer levels of performance

as good as or better than current technologies,

the ability to adopt less environmentallydamaging

equipment may be limited,” he adds. “In

simple terms, a quiet, low-emissions fighter aircraft

may be great in peacetime, but it needs to survive in

combat to be of any value.”

Over the past few years, under intense pressure

to decarbonise, players in the commercial aviation

world have developed roadmaps indicating how they

intend to reduce their impact on the environment.

The over-arching target is an aspirational goal of

achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 –

adopted by ICAO in October 2022.

45%

Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions NATO collectively

aims to achieve by 2030, with net zero targeted for 2050

A handful in the defence sector are setting targets

too, some matching, or even exceeding the plans

of their commercial cousins. Last June, Stoltenberg

announced the decision by NATO as an organisation

to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least

45% by 2030, and down to net zero by 2050. “All

allies are committed to reducing their greenhouse gas

emissions as part of the Paris Agreement,” he adds.

One of the leaders is the UK Royal Air Force (RAF),

which might be the only service to have revealed a

specific target – and the aspiration is ambitious.


In July 2021, chief of the air staff Air Chief Marshal

Sir Mike Wigston, identifying climate change as a

transnational challenge, said: “In the UK, current

legislation requires all greenhouse gas emissions to be

net-zero by 2050, but I have set the RAF the challenge

of net-zero by 2040, because everything I see and

hear tells me that 2050 date will come forward.

“The way we power our aircraft, the way we power

our bases, the way we talk to our supply chain, to our

industrial suppliers about their carbon and sustainable

practices, are all going to be things that we are

going to have to tackle,” Wigston says. “It will take

decades and we need to start now.”

The RAF and NATO are the exceptions rather than

the rule by setting targets, but others will follow as

awareness grows and priorities change. Last year,

at the instigation of Wigston, the Global Air Forces

Climate Change Collaboration was formed, bringing

together 40 air forces on six continents to share best

practices, lessons learned and ideas.

“In our experience, sustainability was low down

the priority list, but it has been climbing the ladder

over the past few years and while delivering

operational effectiveness as cost-effectively as

possible will always be the top consideration, this

issue is right up there and will remain so,” explains

Adam Healy, principal consultant at global strategic

consultancy Roland Berger’s London office.

26bn

Gallons of jet fuel consumed in 2019 by the USA, with only

10% of this accounted for by the military, according to P&W

at Roland Berger. The firm has been focused on

aerospace and aviation sustainability since 2017 and is

working on sustainability strategies for armed forces

and the defence supplier ecosystem.

The consultancy is undertaking a major study to by

mid-year produce its own estimate of emissions from

defence supply chain activities and military operations

across multiple domains, says San Gregorio. “It

is a complex task as sustainability in defence covers

so many areas,” he says. “However, one thing is

certain: if the military and supply chain does nothing,

the impact of the sector will rise as a proportion of

the global total as other industries decarbonise.”

Low utilisation

In peacetime operations, the utilisation of military

aircraft such as fighters is low. “With [Lockheed

Martin] F-16s flying only 150 hours a year you can

be justified to ask: what’s the problem here?,” asks

Richard Aboulafia, managing director of Aero-

Dynamic Advisory. “The military is a fraction of

commercial flying.”

This view is highlighted by the fact that of the

26 billion gallons of jet fuel consumed in the USA

in 2019, only 10% was by the military, says Michael

Winter, principal fellow advanced technology at

Pratt & Whitney.

In the commercial world, the obligation to

decarbonise is often referred to as the “license to

operate”. For the main polluters – airlines – this

means that unless they find routes to achieve netzero

emissions, they will go out of business either

through regulation or increased costs.

The defence sector acknowledges that it must

reduce the impact of its military activities on the

climate, but strategists understand that climate

change brings different challenges in comparison

with the commercial world.

US Air Force

One of the big challenges for the defence sector is

actually measuring the size of its carbon footprint.

Military bodies were exempted from reporting their

emissions when binding greenhouse gas reduction

targets were set for the first time for industrialised

countries in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

“Military emissions are part of what is counted, but

the data is not good,” says Stoltenberg. NATO has

developed the first methodology for measuring its

greenhouse gas emissions, both civilian and military,

to help guide emission reduction efforts.

“It sets out what to count and how to count it, and

it will be made available to all allies to help them

reduce their own military emissions,” he says. “This is

vital, because what gets measured can get cut.”

Nobody disputes that the main contributor is

predominantly emissions from burning fuel in

operations, and specifically air operations, but there

are emissions from day-to-day activities like running

the vast military estate of buildings and transportation,

in addition to those associated with the building

of the aircraft, ships and land vehicles.

The commercial aviation industry’s share of global

greenhouse gas emissions is approximately 3%, with

various estimates of the military’s stake being between

1% and 5%, but certainly in the low single-digits,

says Miguel Lopez San Gregorio, senior consultant

“Military emissions are

part of what is counted,

but the data is not good”

Jens Stoltenberg Secretary general, NATO

NATO


Environment Defence

Emission reduction efforts must be balanced against

allied nations’ need to maintain combat effectiveness

“The prioritisation of environmental topics is

changing fast,” says Jose Antonio Coll Guzman,

head of sustainability at Airbus Defence & Space.

“For the defence sector, it is not only a topic of

emissions, but also of energy dependency, supply

chain vulnerability and the effects of climate change

on future operations.”

Dr Duncan Depledge, a lecturer in Geopolitics

& Security at the UK’s Loughborough University,

is undertaking a project to assess the impact that

achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 will

have on the UK’s armed forces.

“Defence has a carbon problem,” he wrote in an

Oxford Academic article in February. “The strengthening

of net-zero emissions targets in response to the

deepening climate crisis is forcing militaries to find

answers to the question of how to wield force effectively

within the constraints of a net-zero world.”

Depledge tells FlightGlobal there are three prongs

to the carbon problem for militaries. “The thinking

for the first problem is that climate change is going

to lead to increased conflicts, certainly increased

insecurity, and instability.

“The second is that as the world warms as more

carbon enters the atmosphere, climate change itself is

going to alter the operating conditions for defence,”

he says. He notes that in its Climate Action Plan,

the USAF observed one example of the impact of

climate change: “Across the globe, extreme heat and

humidity are a detriment to our ability to execute

operations including impacting aircraft performance

and payload capacity.”

The third element of the carbon problem is fuel

use in operations. “The mitigation piece is critical

because defence itself is a huge consumer of fossil

fuels. It burns a lot of carbon and it’s going to have to

address that as well,” says Depledge.

Carbon combat

Taking this thinking a step further, he introduces the

concept of ‘low-carbon warfare’, with one of the

key questions being: “can you have a high-carbon

military in a low-carbon world?” The answer surely

must be no.

“If pressure to decarbonise military forces

continues to build, Western societies will need to

confront future threats to defence and security with

a much smaller carbon ‘bootprint’ than they do

today,” he says.

“Then the challenge becomes how to retain or

even enhance military operational effectiveness

while supporting action to mitigate the climate crisis,

reducing a costly reliance on fossil fuels (as well as

on petro-states such as Russia), and maintaining the


Environment Defence

Airbus Defence & Space

“Like in other sectors, the

first step is to decarbonise

its industrial footprint

wherever possible, this

includes carbon offsetting”

Jose Antonio Coll Guzman

Head of sustainability, Airbus Defence & Space

support of societies increasingly concerned about

environmental issues,” notes Depledge.

“This gives rise to some uncomfortable and

complex questions. Such as, what is the acceptable

carbon cost for the military?”

As an example, he asks how people would

respond to another ‘War on Terror’ scenario. “Are

we prepared, as a society, to bear those costs again,

not just in terms of the human or financial cost, but

also because there would be a carbon cost of that

conflict too?”

While there are philosophical questions for society

to answer about warfare and carbon, leading

defence manufacturers are making strong moves

to address the due diligence required to meet

their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)

responsibilities, says Healy.

“While the E in ESG is difficult to abate in the

short-term because that’s about emissions from

fossil fuel use in operations, the defence industry

has been generally good on the S and G front,

making strides on board and workforce diversity and

improving the quality of reporting on ESG topics,”

he says.

“Some manufacturers have started working

with supply chains to report on and manage their

environmental impacts, but finding meaningful,

cost-effective and sustainable solutions is anything

but trivial.”

According to Guzman: “Like in other sectors,

the first step [for a defence manufacturer] is to

decarbonise its industrial footprint (buildings,

industrial operations, logistics, etc) wherever

possible, this includes carbon offsetting.”

“The defence industry is in a relatively unique

position, with fewer manufacturers making

dedicated and specific products for a focused

marketplace,” says Healy. “In this small and

highly qualified supply base it is not easy to swap

suppliers. This puts the onus on the entire supply

chain to work together to decarbonise.”

In its ESG report, Raytheon Technologies stresses

the need to attract, develop and retain world-class

talent. This talent increasingly wants to join a firm

that puts sustainability at its core, and if defence

entities do not have a strategy in this regard, they

could become less attractive places to work, it says.

“It has been observed that the further you get from

the front line the more of an issue this becomes for

recruitment,” says Depledge. “If you go into the military

to drive tanks or fly fighter jets, [sustainability] is

not really a big issue. But if you are set back from the

front line in more of a supporting role then people will

ask whether they would prefer to work for a ‘clean’

organisation rather than a ‘dirty’ one.”

Quick thinking

There are a multitude of questions and challenges

for the defence sector to consider, but progress

to answers is at an early stage, argues Depledge.

“Decisions must follow quickly if such thinking is

to have any significant bearing on the character of

military operations in 2050,” he says.

“This leaves little time for consideration of what

the pursuit of low-carbon warfare will mean for the

future character of military operations, how it might

intersect with other trends such as advances in

automation and AI [artificial intelligence], or how it

could be affected by major ruptures in the international

security environment.”

The debate around the defence sector’s impact

on and reaction to climate change is in its infancy.

However, there are leaders already tackling the issue

head-on hoping that many others will follow, and

quickly, as the military ponders how to deal with its

‘carbon problem’. ◗


Environment Action

Slow turn

Compared to commercial aviation, the

defence sector has been trailing in taking

action to mitigate its greenhouse gas

emissions – but change is afoot

Pioneering SAF trials in the UK have centred

on a Royal Air Force A330 Voyager tanker

Crown Copyright


Mark Pilling London

Over the past six months, an Airbus Defence

& Space A400M tactical transport, NH

Industries NH90 multirole helicopter and

a Eurofighter Typhoon have become the

latest military aircraft to undertake test flights with

sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

They join a growing list of defence assets

demonstrating the suitability of SAF as a drop-in fuel,

replacing kerosene, that have taken to the air over

the past decade and more. SAF is seen as the most

critical ingredient in aviation’s mission to reduce its

carbon emissions up to 2050 and beyond.

Air BP offers this explanation of why SAF is

important: “SAF gives an impressive reduction of up

to 80% in carbon emissions over the lifecycle of the

fuel compared to the traditional jet fuel it replaces,

depending on the sustainable feedstock used, production

method and the supply chain to the airport.”

Feedstock supply

Typical feedstocks used to make SAF are cooking

oil, animal waste fat, solid waste from homes and

businesses and forestry waste, it notes.

Air BP is one of a multitude of SAF producers from

the ranks of the traditional fossil fuel giants along

with a host of start-ups keen to tap into what could

become a huge market. Air BP was also the supplier

of the SAF used in mid-January by a Royal Air Force

(RAF) A330 Voyager tanker to achieve the first

SAF air-to-air refuelling of a Typhoon and Lockheed

Martin C-130J transport.

The defence sector is beginning to think about the

influence climate change will exert on warfare and

the platforms it operates.

One of the key questions, according to Dr Duncan

Depledge, a lecturer in geopolitics and security at the

UK’s Loughborough University, is: “Are there alternative

ways of producing the same result for planes,

tanks and ships in a more de-carbonised way?”

The alternative pathways are easy to describe. The

first is alternative fuels, such as SAF, which require

no engine modifications. The second is to change

the way the war-fighting machines are powered by

developing engines that use a low-carbon fuel source

such as electricity or hydrogen.

The quest to discover alternative fuels is hardly

new for the military, but the motivation before was

different and not related to sustainability.

As Richard Aboulafia, managing director of consultancy

AeroDynamic Advisory, observes, two of the

biggest leaps in the development in synthetic fuels

came under duress.

The first was by Germany during the Second

World War when it used synthetic-oil manufacturing

to make oil products from coal because it could not

80%

Potential reduction in carbon emissions using SAF compared

to traditional jet fuel – depending on factors like feedstock

F135 engine for the Lockheed Martin

F-35 has run on 100% SAF

US Marine Corps


Environment Action

import oil from other sources. The second was in

South Africa, where since the 1950s synthetic fuel

has been made from coal, a capability started during

the apartheid era to overcome the oil sanctions

imposed by the UN.

Developing an entire industry from scratch in this

way requires a lot of state money, says Aboulafia,

drawing a parallel with the huge sums of government

support that will be required today to establish SAF

production globally.

Another attempt with alternative fuels took place in

the late 1950s, when Lockheed’s famous Skunk Works

unit used liquid hydrogen as a fuel in ‘Project Suntan’

to develop a long-range spy plane.

According to Michael Winter,

principal fellow advanced technology

at Pratt & Whitney, which

was the engine developer for the

CL-400 Suntan, while the project was

cancelled, it enabled P&W to understand

the challenges of making a gas

turbine engine powered by hydrogen.

P&W is one of several engine

innovators revisiting hydrogen today.

“We went back to the technology from

Project Suntan and we're now working

on a hydrogen engine variation on that

cycle,” says Winter.

Strategic questions

While the motivation to find

alternative pathways today is

predominantly about reducing

emissions, the strategic questions

around fuel and the need to maximise

fuel efficiency are basically the same

as in the past few decades.

“As far as sustainability is concerned

fuel burn has always been important to the military,”

says Winter. “Just as with commercial aviation

where 30-40% of the cost of running an airline

is fuel, it’s the same when running a modern air

force. In addition, fuel security matters in terms of

[operational] independence, mission readiness and

long-range supply lines.”

In commercial aviation the motivation to reach

net-zero emissions by 2050 is coming principally

from the customers: the airlines. In defence, it

is always about “mission first” – but the question

of sustainability is emerging in military aircraft

competitions, says Winter.

“This is an issue right now. When we go into foreign

military campaigns for F135 engines, among the 15

allied operators that we have for the [Lockheed] F-35

we now have countries asking us and the OEM to

perform life-cycle analyses on the engine and on the

aeroplane,” Winter says.

2050

Target date for aviation industry to reach net-zero status,

with militaries increasingly expected to do the same

Pratt & Whitney

For instance, in Switzerland’s recent fighter

competition, which featured a public referendum on

the aircraft choice, “there were hearings that included

discussions about the sustainability and fuel burn

associated with the various options for the Swiss

air force,” explains Winter. These considerations are

mostly prevalent in Europe and emerging in the USA,

but will grow, he adds.

Aboulafia draws on a historical comparison to

highlight another strong motivation for the military to

act. “If you are looking at a change in fuel source you

want to be at the leading edge of the transition,” he

believes, pointing to the example of British Sea Lord

Jackie Fisher, who championed the switch from coal

“Just as with

commercial

aviation where

30-40% of the

cost of running

an airline is fuel,

it’s the same

when running a

modern air force”

Michael Winter Principal fellow

advanced technology, Pratt & Whitney

to oil as the major type of warship fuel in the lead up

to the First World War.

“You want to be free of vulnerable fuel sources and

he [Fisher] could see a point where the alternative

succeeds,” he notes.

As the defence sector recognises and makes the

slow turn towards sustainability, practical questions on

the transition are being asked. The challenge for defence

is more complex than in the commercial world.

“The defence sector has peculiarities as countries

approach this challenge in a different way and at

different speeds,” says Jose Antonio Coll Guzman,

head of sustainability at Airbus Defence & Space.

“Depending on the product, different options

and technologies for decarbonisation need to

be addressed to find the right balance,” he says,

ensuring the technology is right for the mission.

“Many defence products have a long lifespan, which

means that, on one hand, sustainable solutions for

existing products are required, but also, new product

developments need to consider eco-design and

ensure adaptability for the future.

“For this, availability, cost and the development

of an ecosystem in the case of SAF for example is

an important element to be considered, as is the

identification of standards and for governments

to support industry in the inclusion of eco-design

parameters in the specifications and needs of new

product development,” says Guzman.


“As many programmes tend to be adopted by

multiple nations, funding and workshare could raise

the complexity of implementation.”

The spectre of complexity tends to mean higher

costs, which can derail innovation. This is where

government support is essential to signal, regulate

and subsidise the transition.

In late 2022, the US Department of Defense

(DoD) was tasked to prepare a plan for increasing

the production and use of SAF in the Pentagon’s

aviation operations. Under the 2023 National Defense

Authorization Act (NDAA), the DoD will have one

year to identify at least two “geographically diverse”

sites within the current US military footprint to carry

out a pilot programme on SAF use.

Following an initial year to identify test sites, the

DoD is required to generate a plan for using a jet fuel

blend of at least 10% SAF by 2028 at these bases.

The US military has been involved in the

development of SAF for over a decade. In 2010 an

unmodified US Navy Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet

flew from NAS Patuxent River in Maryland powered

by a 50:50 blend of sustainable biofuel and jet fuel.

At the time, Boeing said that “operating navy

platforms with renewable energy sources such as

30%

Reduction in fuel burn P&WC expects from hybrid-powered

Dash 8-100, compared with conventional turboprops

sustainable biofuels are part of the service's strategy

to reduce reliance on fossil fuels by half over the

next decade”.

That aspiration has not been met, but throughout

this period the US military has continued its strong

support in the research and development and fuel

qualification phase for SAF, explains Steve Csonka,

executive director of the Commercial Aviation

Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI).

Crown Copyright

Formed in 2006, CAAFI is a coalition of airlines,

aircraft and engine manufacturers, energy producers,

researchers, international participants, and US government

agencies leading the development and deployment

of alternative jet fuels for commercial aviation.

Price matters

Turning the military’s interest in SAF into joining

airlines in buying it is the next stage, but by no

means easy. Firstly, the US military is legally obliged

to acquire fuel based on price. There are the seeds

of legislation in the US system that may allow SAF

to be bought in the future, but for now its use is

limited to a few trials.

Secondly, if SAF is acquired, and it is more expensive

than regular jet fuel, in a finite budget world the

military may have to cut back elsewhere to balance

the books. This is problematic if mission capability is

degraded or spending on platforms is curtailed.

Could fuel made from air make the grade?

The prospect of producing sustainable aviation

fuel utilising embryonic carbon transformation

technologies has led the US Department of Defense

to begin work with a start-up in this field to explore

the opportunity.

The deal in February saw developer Air Company

awarded a contract with a ceiling value of $65

million from the Defense Innovation Unit to produce

Airmade jet fuel at certain selected US Air Force

(USAF) bases.

Air Company notes that the USAF is currently

identifying and developing potential sites suitable

for its Airmade SAF production across the USA, to

be available ahead of 2030.

In mid-2022, the USAF and Air Company kicked

off their partnership with a flight demonstration of a

small, unmanned jet powered 100% by Airmade SAF

in a project called Fierce.

Air Company produced five gallons of SAF using

its carbon utilisation technology. This features its

carbon conversion reactor system, where carbon

dioxide captured from industrial plants is combined

with green hydrogen. There are further steps

involving a catalytic converter to finish with a SAF

that Air Company claims has an emissions reduction

potential as high as 99%, depending on the lowcarbon

electricity source used.

“In addition to its sustainability benefits, our

technology enables strategic control of fuel supply

and availability for our partners,” says Stafford

Sheehan, Air Company’s chief technology officer

and co-founder.

Air Company


Environment Action

The UK Royal Air Force has experimented

with Velis Electro as part of training study

“There are a lot of people in the industry who really

hope for progress and to see the services become a

large buyer of SAF,” says Csonka. “And while it is a

question of when, not if, the question can be asked:

will the military be the last purchaser of SAF? Or

will the recent NDAA mandate to evaluate various

options for SAF supply initiate an earlier uptake?”

While FlightGlobal’s research has not found

any military forces regularly using SAF, there are

many military models on the path of testing and

certification, including with the Japan Air Self-

Defence Force and the Republic of Singapore Air

Force, and there are infrastructure developments.

From January, the NATO Central Europe Pipeline

that supplies Brussels airport with kerosene was

opened for the transport of SAF.

In parallel there is a frenzy of R&D work around

disruptive propulsion technologies with direct

applicability between the work being done in the civil

Fierce project saw unmanned jet flown

on 100% Airmade SAF in mid-2022

world to military platforms, says Winter. All of P&W’s

military engines are approved for SAF use based on

today’s fuel specifications and the F135 engine for the

F-35 has run on 100% SAF.

“When you look at a military, and when you look at

a commercial engine, they both have fans, compressors

and combustors,” says Winter. “There are some

nuanced differences, but the way you optimise one

and the way you optimise the other are similar; you are

relying on the same physics and the same chemistry.”

P&W is among all the majors and a plethora

of smaller players working on electrification,

hybrid-electric and hydrogen powerplant technologies.

For instance, Pratt & Whitney Canada is leading

development of a hybrid powerplant, which incorporates

a 1MW electric motor to equip a De Havilland

Canada Dash 8-100 with the system. It is planned to

fly in 2024 and is targeting a 30% reduction in fuel

burn and carbon dioxide emissions compared to

today’s turboprops.

“Those same technologies have direct applicability

[to military platforms],” explains Winter. “In terms of

larger engines, we’re also looking at that sweet spot of

around one megawatt. The military would love another

megawatt of power on board – that’s an order of magnitude

more than they have on board fighters today.”

The extra electrical power could be used for an

electronic warfare suite, for directed-energy weapons

or for silent operations, he notes.

Airframe efficiencies

While much of the focus is on disruptive propulsion

solutions to decarbonise military aircraft, the OEMs

are seeking efficiencies from airframes as well.

“This journey doesn’t stop here,” says Guzman.

“We keep improving our aircraft with initiatives like

Herwingt (Hybrid-Electric Regional Wing Integration

Novel Green Technologies), which is a [EU] Clean

Aviation project focused on the design of a more

performant wing for military aircraft.”

The idea of not flying altogether is another prospect

by using synthetic training as an alternative to avoid

flight testing and training emissions, says Guzman.

“By nature, our products and services contribute

to reducing the carbon footprint of our customers,”

says Helene Gagnon, chief sustainability officer at

global training giant CAE. “It is estimated that one

minute of live training in a Eurofighter generates

as much carbon emissions as a full day in the same

platform simulator.

“Although simulation will not take the place of

live flight training, it allows students to practice and

master abilities, making live flight training more

effective and efficient, supporting our environment

and our customers,” she says.

Elsewhere in the military training world, the RAF and

the Royal Danish Air Force have been trialling the use

of Pipistrel’s all-electric Velis Electro two-seat trainer

with a view to replacing traditionally-powered types.

There are many opportunities for the defence

sector to decarbonise, but clearly many complexities

and challenges too.

The question of sustainability has arrived front and

centre on the agenda for military leaders. Progress

is too slow for some, however just as in the commercial

aviation arena the bandwagon is rolling and

cannot be stopped. ◗


Increasing sustainable aviation fuel use relies

on regulatory approvals and demonstrating

the viability of current aircraft to operate

safely without costly adaptation

Drop-in

options

Howard Hardee Sacramento

With many airlines and other aerospace

companies pledging to drastically reduce

carbon emissions, ramping up production

and use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)

is a major aspect of decarbonisation strategies.

An effort is under way to power aircraft entirely

with synthetic and sustainably-derived jet fuel.

But before regulatory approvals are granted for the

operational use of such fuels, the aviation industry

needs to agree on a technical definition of SAF.

Sustainable components currently can be

combined with conventional petroleum-based jet

fuel in blends of up to 50% SAF. Now, the aviation

industry is pursuing the use of 100% SAF that

can serve as a “drop-in” replacement for the most

common Jet A and Jet A-1 fuels.

The high cost of SAF has prompted airlines to lean

on their customers for help. For example, JetBlue

Airways recently rolled out a partnership with

climate tech company Choose, which supports a

platform that will allow customers to estimate the

carbon emissions of their flights and contribute to

a fund “dedicated to covering the cost premium

of SAF as compared to conventional jet fuel”, the

carrier said on 27 February.

A similar strategy has been adopted by United

Airlines, which gives customers the opportunity to

contribute to its Sustainable Flight Fund. “SAF is the

most-scalable solution to decarbonise air travel,”

United says.

But SAF still makes up just a fraction of the jet

fuel currently used globally. “We still have a long

No modifications

“Essentially every engine and airframe has already

been certified for that fuel,” Gurhan Andac, engineering

leader for aviation fuels and additives at GE Aerospace,

tells FlightGlobal. “That’s where the significance of the

drop-in concept comes in. If we have a more-sustainable

option compared to petroleum jet [fuel], then

you can directly introduce that into the field without

impacting engine and airframe architecture.”

The aviation industry is banking on widespread

use of SAF to help meet a target to have net- zero

carbon output by 2050. Governments are also

behind the effort, but challenges, uncertainty and

scepticism remain.

Yaya Photos/Shutterstock

Carriers are seeking alternatives to the use of Jet A-1 fuel


Environment Fuels

JetBlue gives passengers the option to

contribute to the cost of SAF operations

AirTeamImages

way to go to achieve net-zero by 2050,” JetBlue

acknowledges, with SAF having accounted for just

0.3% of the fuel it burned in 2022.

While global SAF capacity is projected to increase

fivefold this year, it will still account for just 1% of

jet fuel consumption in 2023, ING researcher Coco

Zhang told FlightGlobal in December 2022. Nearly

3% of jet fuel consumed globally will be SAF by 2026.

Andac has been with GE for 16 years, focusing

mostly on synthetic aviation fuel. He has worked

extensively on SAF assessment and standardisation,

which occurs under the umbrella of ASTM International,

an organisation that develops and publishes

voluntary consensus technical standards. Through

the process, industry players plan to establish a fuel

definition qualifying synthetic fuel components.

Production pathways

Not all SAF is produced the same way, Andac

explains. Seven SAF production pathways are currently

qualified by ASTM, with an eighth expected to

be approved this year.

If such synthetic fuel is sustainably derived from

sources such as corn grain, oil seeds, algae, fats, oils

and greases, or agricultural and forestry residues, it

is considered SAF. And in a recently-launched EUfunded

project, a consortium is investigating conversion

of agricultural manure and straw into SAF.

But the availability of feedstock is another issue.

A 2021 report from the International Council on

Clean Transportation estimates “there is a sufficient

resource base to support approximately 3.4 million

tonnes of advanced SAF production annually, or 5.5%

of projected [EU] jet fuel demand in 2030”.

“There is variation of

composition with the

synthetic blending

components. The industry

needs to standardise

what 100% SAF is”

Gurhan Andac Engineering leader for aviation fuels

and additive, GE Aerospace

The industry has started with SAF blends –

synthetically derived components blended with

commercial jet fuel – which is available today.

“[With] some of them, you cannot use unblended

at all, so there is variation of composition with

the synthetic blending components,” Andac says.

“Because of such variance, the industry needs to

standardise what 100% SAF is.”

Research is under way to power aircraft entirely

with 100% drop-in SAF.

In January, Emirates conducted Boeing 777-300ER

ground tests using SAF. One of the jet’s GE90

engines burned 100% SAF, while the other burned

conventional jet fuel. This allowed GE – along with

partners Boeing, Honeywell Aerospace, Neste and

biofuel maker Virent – to make a comparison of the

fuels’ performance.


Environment Fuels

Emirates on 30 January flew a 777

with one engine using 100% SAF

Emirates

“Such an effort adds to the body of technical data

that will help us develop that substantiation for going

to 100% SAF,” Andac says.

One approach to producing 100% SAF is blending

multiple synthetic components from different SAF

development pathways. The Emirates ground test,

for example, used two SAF blending components –

one paraffinic and the other aromatic – to create a

Jet A/Jet A-1 equivalent drop-in fuel, Andac says. GE

found technical value in the demonstration, but the

test was also designed to demonstrate the viability

of SAF to the public.

5.5%

Projected EU fuel demand in 2030 that can be met by SAF,

according to International Council on Clean Transportation

On 30 January, Emirates got its SAF tests off the

ground, flying a 777 with one engine using 100% SAF.

“Such initiatives are critical contributors to industry

knowledge on SAF, and provide data to demonstrate

the use of higher blends of SAF for future regulatory

approvals,” says chief operating officer Adel Al Redha.

ASTM has been developing standards for 100%

drop-in SAF for two years. Andac estimates that it

will take another two years to complete the process,

while acknowledging that “many factors could impact

that schedule”.

The 100% drop-in SAF would also have to be compatible

with infrastructure, such as fuel storage and

hydrant systems, fuelling trucks, pipelines, barges and

rail cars – “anything that deals with fuel”, Andac says.

“In parallel, there are additional efforts the industry

is working on and we are heavily engaged in the

standardisation of some other components that

cannot be called Jet A/Jet A-1, but comes close to

it,” he says. “It’s not necessarily compatible with the

entire fleet and entire infrastructure.

“We don’t know whether that will be a practical

fuel in the field in the future, but there’s some interest

toward it, so that’s why it’s being evaluated by the

industry in general,” he adds.

ASTM has developed a draft standard and is acquiring

technical data to substantiate 100% drop-in SAF

as a “fit for purpose fuel”, Andac says. “This is very

important because from the qualification and certification

perspective, the main focus is safety, not sustainability:

is this a safe fuel that could be used in aviation

equipment? That’s why it needs to be data driven.”

Data review

A committee review of the data will be followed by

a review of fuel specifications. A balloting process

will then allow stakeholders – manufacturers, fuel

and equipment producers and other members of the

aviation community – to provide feedback or make

objections to the proposed standards.

“When that balloting process is completed favourably,

then you can issue the standard that defines that

fuel,” Andac says. “It will take time, but it’s for a good

reason. We need to take as much time as needed to

make sure these fuels are safe and fit for purpose.” ◗

“SAF tests are critical

contributors to industry

knowledge, and provide

data to demonstrate the

use of higher blends of

SAF for future approvals”

Adel Al Redha Chief operating officer, Emirates


With the major breakthroughs needed to

curb aviation emissions still some years from

introduction, operators are taking small efficiency

steps which are adding up to deliver real change

Quick wins

Tony Harrington Brisbane

With demands intensifying for aviation to

cut its emissions, airlines increasingly are

turning to so-called “one percenters”:

quick fixes which deliver immediate

results. They are also turning to interim technologies

while they wait for bigger breakthroughs.

Headline emission reductions will come from

sustainable aviation fuels, new propulsion and

airframe designs, streamlined airspace management,

and carbon removal technologies. But their

availability at effective scale remains years away.

So airlines are pursuing incremental but immediate

improvements through changes to their daily

procedures, upgrading with already-available

products, or investing in medium-term technologies.

They are also harvesting fresh insights from

the mountains of data collected by aircraft, but

historically never explored, or through greater use of

real-time information.

flaps and engine thrust reversers can also quickly

but marginally cut fuel burn and emissions.

Other initiatives include the more widespread use

of lightweight seats, catering trolleys and galley

equipment, removal of duty-free stock from aircraft,

and providing in-flight connectivity for passengers’

smart devices, removing the need for weighty entertainment

systems to be installed on some aircraft.

Additionally, lightweight containers and nets

are increasingly being used for cargo, and even

recyclable cardboard pallets which reduce the weight

of freight, but not the payload.

And there is a growing switch to lighter components,

from aircraft tyres to wing and fuselage panels,

and efficiency enhancements ranging from thinner

paint to aerodynamic treatments.

Delta Air Lines plans to retrofit more than 200

of its 737s with Aero Design Labs components

Deliverable benefits

Realistically, these step changes will deliver limited

benefits – by some estimates, around 2% of aviation’s

decarbonisation efforts. But they remain important

because their benefits are deliverable now.

Operational initiatives include single-engine taxiing

by aircraft or towing by electric or hybrid tugs,

and the use of airport electricity instead of aircraftgenerated

energy to power them while parked.

Where possible, optimised air routes and initiatives

such as continuous descent profiles are being

used to shorten flights and cut emissions, while engine

core cleaning and modified deployment of wing

Robin Guess/Shutterstock


Environment Technology

Lufthansa Cargo’s 777Fs are receiving

‘Aeroshark’ coating to reduce drag

Lufthansa Cargo

Lufthansa Cargo and Swiss International Air Lines

are applying the newly European Union Aviation

Safety Agency-approved ‘Aeroshark’ external coating

to 23 Boeing 777s – 11 freighters and 12 passenger

jets. The application – which replicates the contours

of shark skin – helps to reduce aerodynamic drag.

Swiss operated the first passenger flight using

this technology, which is collectively expected to

cut almost 24,000t of CO2 emissions annually, last

October, while Lufthansa Cargo’s first modified

freighter (D-ALFA) entered service in early February.

“If the flow pattern on the fuselage and engine

nacelles of the 777F is optimised in this way, significant

savings in fuel and emissions can be achieved,”

it says of the technology, which was developed by

Lufthansa Technik and BASF.

Streamlined aerodynamics

Meanwhile, Canada’s WestJet and US-based Aero

Design Labs have progressed tests of lightweight

wing and fuselage components which, when

retrofitted to 737 aircraft can also streamline aerodynamics,

cutting fuel burn and emissions by around

1.5%. Delta Air Lines plans to retrofit more than 200

of its 737s once the kit receives US Federal Aviation

Administration approval.

24,000t

Expected annual CO2 reduction from the application

of novel fuselage coating to 23 Lufthansa Group 777s

“Long term, the impact

from green aircraft and

sustainable fuel on reduced

CO2 emissions is big. But

today this is not available”

Sylvie Sureda-Perez Director of datalink solutions, Inmarsat

Technical intelligence is also key, with growing

access to data collected by aircraft and use of

real-time satellite communications both driving decisions

which can quickly cut fuel burn and emissions.

Aircraft data has produced insights into

inefficiencies such as uplift of excess taxi fuel and

potable water, both of which add significant weight,

increasing emissions. By leveraging the data, airlines

can use past performance to plan more efficient

future flights.

Real-time data collated by aircraft in flight, or

obtained through ever-improving satellite communication

systems, also enables pilots to immediately

optimise flights and cut emissions.

“In the long term, obviously the impact from

green aircraft and sustainable fuel on reduced CO2

emissions is big. But today this is not available,”

Sylvie Sureda-Perez, director of datalink solutions

for connectivity provider Inmarsat, said in its recent

report Plotting the Route to a Greener Future.

“If you want to start addressing the problem,” she

says, “you have to start with the available solution.”

Sometimes that means picking a “one percenter”. ◗


Golden

future

A new age of advanced air

mobility appears to be within

reach, with regulators and

developers targeting high-profile

service launches around the next

two summer Olympic Games

Joby Aviation believes it can be providing air taxi

operations by the time of Los Angeles 2028


Environment Mobility

Joby Aviation

Howard Hardee Sacramento

Some believers in emerging aviation technology

have a futuristic vision of a highly connected

fleet of electric vertical take-off and landing

(eVTOL) vehicles in the sky above Southern

California within five years.

The vision is shared not just by aviation

entrepreneurs and Silicon Valley executives. Among

its promoters is Billy Nolen, acting administrator of

the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), who

has publicly identified the 2028 Olympic Games in

Los Angeles as a potential opportunity to showcase

the USA as a leader in eVTOL technology.

“As we think forward within the FAA, we’re sort of

thinking around the idea of ‘innovate 2028’ with the

upcoming Olympics,” Nolen said during the NBAA

Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition in

Orlando, Florida last October. “I mean, there’s nothing

like having an aspirational goal and a

forcing function.

“We’re talking about probably having

hundreds if not thousands of advanced

air mobility [AAM] vehicles by the

2028 timeframe,” he added.

Aggressive timeline

Speaking to the same audience, Patrick

Ky, executive director of the European

Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA),

outlined an even more aggressive timeline

by pointing to the 2024 Olympics

in Paris as when the emerging eVTOL

industry could shine on a world stage.

“The French government is very

excited about trying to use the Paris

Olympics to showcase these new

forms of mobility,” he said.

Such encouragement from leaders

of traditionally slow-moving regulatory

bodies on both sides of the Atlantic has

not gone unnoticed by air taxi developers

racing to be the first to bring

potentially revolutionary air services to market.

Two US developers that have made notable progress

with eVTOL prototypes – Archer Aviation and Joby

Aviation – are aiming to launch operations in 2025.

Adam Goldstein, founder and chief executive of

California-based Archer, told FlightGlobal in January

that he has taken the FAA’s message to heart.

“Billy Nolen has stated he wants these vehicles certified

in 2024 and to get them operational in 2025,”

he says. “I think there is a really big motivation to see

the next great aerospace company built in America,

so you have a big policy backing where it’s become

one of the FAA’s priorities to do this.

50 miles

Current maximum range expectation for eVTOL designs,

enabling them to perform viable ride-sharing flights

Andrew Harnik/AP/Shutterstock

“This isn’t just like certifying the next plane or the

next cool thing,” he adds. “This is a vehicle that adds

a lot of value to society.”

Like many competitors, Archer envisions a

ride-sharing service using eVTOL aircraft to fly

passengers less than 50 miles (80km). In November

2022, the company unveiled its second airframe, a

four-passenger-plus-pilot vehicle called Midnight.

Commercial viability

Though the viability of eVTOL platforms as commercial

vehicles remains unproven, several major US airlines

have already placed their bets. Delta Air Lines,

long sceptical of the AAM space, disclosed last year

a plan to invest up to $200 million in Joby. Archer,

meanwhile, has backing from United Airlines. Both

companies plan to roll out operations with routes

connecting airports to city downtowns.

Many other start-ups are working to develop and

certificate eVTOL aircraft in the coming years. Players

“We’re talking

about probably

having hundreds

if not thousands

of advanced

air mobility

vehicles [in use]

by the 2028

timeframe”

Billy Nolen Acting administrator,


include Germany’s Lilium Air Mobility, the UK’s Vertical

Aerospace, US-based Wisk Aero – which has funding

from Boeing – and Eve, backed by Embraer.

As for the imagined fleet of eVTOL vehicles moving

people in Los Angeles airspace by 2028, Goldstein

says the timeline largely hinges on FAA certification.

“The only way that happens is we certify in 2024

and in 2025 we start operating,” he says. “Archer isn’t

saying that, Billy Nolen is saying that. It’s not that

Archer has this aggressive schedule, it’s that when

everybody wants to get it done, we get it done.”

Conforming aircraft

For start-ups to launch operations in 2025, they must

begin testing conforming aircraft this year, Sergio

Cecutta of SMG Consulting said during the Vertical

Flight Society’s Electric VTOL Symposium in Mesa,

Arizona on 26 January.

“It takes a certain amount of time,” Cecutta says.

“And this is the best-case scenario, right? We all want

to believe the OEMs that by 2025 we’ll have at least

two or three aircraft that are going to be certified.”

Not everybody is bullish on the sector, however.


Archer Aviation

Archer unveiled its four-passenger

Midnight design in November 2022

Is crowded reduced-emissions sector poised for rationalisation?

Tony Harrington Brisbane

The rush to reduce aviation’s emissions has created

a huge new wave of sustainable aircraft concepts: as

many as 700 by some estimates.

Now, there are signs of rationalisation, as investors

focus on inventions with prospects of strong, early

returns, and many e-aviation aspirants struggle to

meet high costs and long timelines for certification.

“There are plenty of concepts out there. There’s

also a lot of hype,” says Patrick Edmond, managing

director of aviation consultancy Altair Advisory.

“The discourse for a lot of players at the

moment is around just finding the finance to get

to the starting line. Then there’s certification,

and questions like: ‘What happens when the gear

doesn’t come down, and you have to land on a belly

full of lithium batteries?’ I think we’re getting very

close to a shakeout starting.”

There is ample scope for innovation, one financier

notes. “But not 700 models worth. A lot of people

are in the market looking to bring in new designs,

and invariably, it takes longer and costs more than

you think. Not all of them can survive.”

Some programmes are several years advanced

and well on the road towards certification, with

solid investor backing to evolve their products, and

orders flowing in.

A mix of all-electric, hybrid-electric and hydrogenelectric

testbeds have been flown by pioneers

including Ampaire, Eviation, Pipistrel, VoltAero,

ZeroAvia, Canada’s Harbour Air Seaplanes, and a

host of air taxi developers.

More are readying for take-off, among them

Universal Hydrogen, which will deliver capsules

of fuel directly onto the aircraft they will power,

bypassing conventional fuelling infrastructure, and

Cranfield Aerospace, with a hydrogen-powered

derivative of the Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander.

Fully converted

David Doral is managing director of Euro-Australian

company Dovetail Aviation, which is designing and

building battery-electric and hydrogen-electric

powertrains to convert existing aircraft.

Partnered with investors including Australia’s Rex

Aviation and European operators Air Nostrum and

Volotea, and supported by an Australian government

grant, Dovetail is focused on retrofitting, not just

because of lower cost, but due to it offering a faster

and simpler path to certification than all-new models.

Dovetail is currently preparing its first fullyelectric

powertrain, and is planning to fly a



Some aerospace analysts have serious doubts about

the viability of the envisioned air taxi operations.

“There’s been so much focus on the technologies

and the aircraft, but not enough focus put on the

operators of those aircraft… [and] how the hell they

are going to make money,” AeroDynamic Advisory

analyst Kevin Michaels said during an aerospace

industry event near Seattle in February.

Air taxi business models tend to assume operators

will recoup their costs by flying eVTOL assets for

thousands of hours annually, he says. But the aircraft

could have notable operating constraints, including

limitations imposed by charging and restrictions on

operating in poor visibility or icy conditions.

“You’re planning on flying 3,000 hours per year…

are you kidding me?”, Michaels says. “That’s what

twin-aisles fly.”

He sees the eVTOL sector as having a “venture capital”

mentality: “tell a big story, maybe one of the 10 will

work. That’s not the way our industry functions.”

Analysts also cite the challenges of developing wholly

new infrastructure and air traffic control systems.

“Just think about the… organisational nightmare of

trying to pull together all this infrastructure across jurisdictions,

across state lines,” BofA Securities financial

3,000

Number of hours per year air taxi business models assume

eVTOL assets will be flying for, if they are to recoup costs

analyst Ron Epstein said at the same event. “Not that

it’s insurmountable – but it’s pretty insurmountable.”

Others are far more optimistic. Eric Allison, head

of product at Joby, told FlightGlobal on 27 January

that he believes his company’s ambitious certification

timeline puts the 2028 Olympics within reach.

“The administrator deserves kudos for putting

forward a bold vision of leadership in the space,”

he says. “To have a meaningful commercial service

in place, I think, is well within the way we see this

evolving. It’s very feasible.”

Complicated airspace

Joby has already been working with the city of Los

Angeles through its partnership with Delta, Allison

says. He concedes that the area around Los Angeles

International airport is “one of the most complicated

airspaces around”, due to the airport’s proximity to the

urban core and “extremely high utilisation”.

“LAX and JFK are quite important markets, so we

certainly are giving a lot of attention to those areas,”

Allison says. “We’ve all been impressed in the way the

FAA has leaned in on what they need to do to push

things along on an aggressive timeline. I think that

there’s a lot of agency-level enthusiasm.”

Among the possible first companies to market,

Archer and Joby are doing “foundational work” on

certification and testing that will help launch the

entire industry, Allison says. There is risk that the FAA

will ask start-ups to undertake costly and time-intensive

redesigns of their aircraft before granting

approval to operate in the national airspace. Both

Archer and Joby say they have been in close communication

with the FAA through their respective

development processes, however.

Lessor Avolon has secured customers

for 500 of Vertical Aerospace’s VX-4

converted Cessna Caravan next year, with a target

of certification by 2025.

“Getting to market can cost hundreds of millions

of dollars – even billions,” notes Doral. “A couple

of years ago there was a greater appetite for

risk among investors. But now that appetite has

changed significantly.”

Vertical Aerospace

Global lessor Avolon has invested in UK start-up

Vertical Aerospace, and announced orders for 500

of its VX-4 electric air taxis, now all committed to

customers, mainly major airlines.

“We identified Vertical as the right partner to

start our exploration of the potential for electric

air travel,” say Marc Tembleque Vilalta, head of

Avolon-e. “The best way for us to help the business

scale up from a concept to a full production OEM

was to get involved as a shareholder.

“Near term, we see funding availability as the

limiting factor for most new technology OEMs. Cash

conservation may see the timelines of some concepts

pushed out while access to capital remains limited.”

Universal appeal

John Thomas is chief executive of Connect Airlines,

a US short-haul start-up preparing to launch.

Connect has ordered up to 100 conversion kits from

Universal Hydrogen, in which it has also invested, to

adapt ATR 72 twin-turboprops to using zero carbon

emission powertrains.

The formula for success was clear, he says:

“Technology, lower execution risk, and commercial

viability.” But will 2023 be a year of shakeout for

concept aircraft and powertrains?

“I think we have a few more years,” Thomas says.

“The size of the prize is so large that people will

continue to fund, even if some are late to market.”



“Ultimately, we know that we are not in control of

the process,” Allison says. “Whatever decision they

make, they will make and we will deal with that as

decisions happen. But we’ve been really encouraged.”

New eVTOL designs increase the complexity of certification

because they have different configurations,

multiple thrust sources and various operating modes.

“Many AAM companies are the designer, manufacturer

and operator, requiring them to obtain several

certifications,” the FAA says.

Pilots of eVTOL aircraft will need to be rated to operate

powered-lift vehicles, the FAA says, as many of

the designs involve taking off vertically and transitioning

to forward flight. The agency is developing operational

and pilot-training rules and determining how to

integrate new aircraft types into the existing airspace

system. It expects to update its regulatory framework

for AAM operations in urban areas this year.

Regulatory changes

Additionally, the agency on 6 December 2022 filed a

proposal for subjecting air taxi operations to regulations

that currently apply to airlines and other

commercial operators. Powered-lift aircraft are not

among five existing aircraft categories to which FAA

operating rules apply: commuter carriers, domestic

carriers, flag carriers, on-demand carriers and supplement

carriers. The administrator has proposed adding

powered-lift to the list with its pending rule change.

For inventors, the staggering cost of developing

new technology and getting the FAA’s blessing represents

another significant hurdle. Goldstein has previously

estimated that the price of one aircraft design

to reach certification could be up to $1 billion.

Achieving large-scale air taxi transport in time for

the 2028 Olympics is viewed by some as a highly ambitious

and perhaps unrealistic timeline. Others within

the industry – such as Jia Xu, chief technology officer

of Honeywell’s urban air mobility and unmanned

aerial systems units – say it is entirely possible for

eVTOL start-ups to progress that quickly.

Xu points to the introduction of turbofan engines

and reliable rocket motors as bringing “explosive

growth” to the aerospace industry. He is optimistic

about timelines laid out by Archer, Joby and federal

regulators and is encouraged by the pace at which

EASA and the FAA are moving to support the sector.

Honeywell is doing its part. “Aircraft type certification,

ultimately, is the OEM’s responsibility, but we

are providing them with certifiable components that

“Looking at some of

the partners that we’ve

worked with – Lilium and

Archer as well as Pipistrel

and Textron – they’re past

the point where it’s just

about demonstrators”

Jia Xu Chief technology officer, Honeywell urban air mobility

Skyports

Busy eVTOL operations must align

with existing airspace regulations

have some level of functional guarantees within the

certification regime, so that it reduces the amount of

ocean that they’re boiling.”

Though it has taken multiple generations of demonstration

aircraft to solve a multitude of power, battery

and flight-physics problems, Xu says, several startups

have reached the point of “no kidding, go do it”.

“Looking at some of the partners that we’ve

worked with – Lilium and Archer as well as Pipistrel

and Textron – they’re past the point where it’s just

about demonstrators,” he says. “People are moving

very far along in terms of developing and finalising

their aircraft and sourcing all of the components. The

industry is very serious about moving beyond just

doing demos and into producing conforming aircraft.

“These companies are working very diligently for

certification,” Xu continues. “There’s a host of companies

and partners like Honeywell working somewhat

behind the scenes to make that vision a reality.”

Cost reduction

To minimise costly and time-intensive redesigns,

Archer has, to the extent possible, been using

components similar to those found in existing

type-certificated aircraft.

“We tried to design the vehicle to be as close to

existing regulations as possible, with the newest

stuff,” Goldstein says. “The goal here was to say,

‘Hey regulators, this looks just like all the stuff you’ve

certified before’. We don’t 3D print. We vertically

integrate as little as possible because we want to use

parts that are already on other certified planes.

“We’ve obviously borrowed some stuff from the

helicopter world because we’re vertical flight,” he

adds. “If you’re willing to certify helicopters, you

should be willing to certify these vehicles.”

Xu believes it is wise for air taxi developers to

pursue “certification-ready systems” with “proven

capabilities and pedigree”.

Having explicit support from federal regulators is

encouraging, as well. Creating a certification pathway

for electric air taxis is one thing the FAA “has to get

right”, Nolen said last October. “That work is underway

as we speak and we have a couple of dozen of

[applicants] in the pipeline.”

Certification is, after all, just the beginning. “For the

overall industry to become successful, one thing we

need is a type certificate,” Xu says. “The next one we

need is an operation.” ◗


Ukraine is trying to convince NATO nations that

donated Western fighters would give Kyiv a

decisive edge in its war against Russian invaders.

We assess whether the proposal has wings

Flights of

fancy?

Craig Hoyle London

NATO’s unwavering support for the besieged

government in Ukraine has been evidenced

through its member states’ continued supply

of advanced equipment to Kyiv through more

than a year of conflict – but still has stopped short of

providing fighter aircraft.

In an impassioned speech to the UK parliament’s

House of Commons on 8 February, Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelensky urged Ukraine’s allies to “do

everything to provide our pilots with modern planes”.

“Every air force pilot is a king – they are so few,

they are so precious,” he said, after presenting

parliament with a helmet used by a Ukrainian fighter

ace, inscribed with the words ‘We have freedom –

give us wings to protect it’.

“I trust this symbol will help us for our next

coalition – a coalition of planes,” Zelensky said. “And

I appeal to you and the world with these most simple

and yet important words: combat aircraft for Ukraine.

Wings for freedom.”

During a meeting earlier the same day, UK Prime

Minister Rishi Sunak had offered to “bolster the

UK’s training offer for Ukrainian troops, including

expanding it to fighter jet pilots to ensure Ukraine

can defend its skies”.

“The training will ensure pilots are able to fly

sophisticated NATO-standard fighter jets in the

“I appeal to you and the

world with these most

simple and yet important

words: combat aircraft

for Ukraine”

Volodymyr Zelensky President, Ukraine

Dymtro Larin/Shutterstock


Ukraine Fighters

A donation of used F-16s would significantly

strengthen Ukraine’s depleted air force

Mike Mareen/Shutterstock

future,” the UK Ministry of Defence says of the

commitment, without providing further details.

Sunak’s pledge prompted calls from his two

immediate predecessors in the role, Liz Truss and

Boris Johnson, to go a step further and commit to

supplying Kyiv with some of the Royal Air Force’s

(RAF’s) Eurofighter Typhoons.

Zelensky’s call for the provision of modern combat

aircraft came just weeks after multiple NATO nations

had pledged to equip Kyiv with main battle tanks.

This was spearheaded by a UK promise to transfer

British Army Challenger 2s, and was followed by

offers of German-built Leopard 2s from Finland,

Poland and Spain, plus US Army M1 Abrams vehicles.

Escalation worries

Now under way, the delivery of tanks from NATO

members will build on the earlier transfer of large

amounts of equipment, ranging from small arms

ammunition and anti-tank missiles to sophisticated

air-defence systems.

In the early days following Russia’s February 2022

invasion, Poland touted a proposal to supply Kyiv with

its RAC MiG-29 fighters, although NATO’s leadership

at that time opposed any such transfer, amid concern

that it could widen hostilities with Moscow.

Warsaw is conducting a rapid acquisition of 48

Korea Aerospace Industries FA-50 light combat

aircraft to replace its MiG-29s and Sukhoi Su-22s,

with an initial batch of 12 jets to be delivered from

the third quarter of this year. The Polish air force also

currently operates 48 Lockheed Martin F-16C/Ds as

its most advanced defensive capability.

But while leaders including Sunak and US President

Joe Biden have stated that “nothing is off the

table”, how well positioned might NATO states be to

potentially spare some of their own vitally needed

combat aircraft – and could Ukraine effectively field

such transformational assets?

97

Ukrainian air force’s inventory of combat aircraft before

Russian invasion, according to Cirium fleets data

The Ukrainian air force’s inventory totalled a

combined 97 Soviet-era combat aircraft before the

war, according to Cirium fleets data. These included

MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters, plus Su-24 and Su-25

ground-attack aircraft.

Russia’s early efforts to seize the country

conspicuously failed to neutralise its enemy’s air

force, which remains capable of staging operations –

albeit under degraded conditions.


The UK could supply Kyiv with Tranche 1 Typhoons,

but the aircraft may not suit conditions in Ukraine

The true scale of Ukraine’s air force losses are unclear,

with Kyiv closely guarding such sensitive information.

But in a late-February report entitled Ukrainian

innovation in a war of attrition, the US Center for Strategic

and International Studies (CSIS) cites a figure of

57 combat jets having been lost since mid-2022.

The CSIS attributes this figure to research

conducted by the Oryx group, which claims to have

documented the loss of 18 of Kyiv’s MiG-29s, 16

Su-25s, 15 Su-24s and eight Su-27s.

Losing such a high percentage of its aerial combat

mass would represent a significant blow to Ukraine’s

hopes of capably defending its skies now, and also

after the conflict concludes.

“With fewer aircraft available, each plane endures

more sorties and wears down faster,” the CSIS

report’s authors note. “Without replenishment from

the West, Ukraine could lose the ability to defend its

airspace and target Russian ground forces.”

Surplus assets

Noting that the US Air Force has current plans to

divest more than a combined 200 of its Boeing

F-15, Fairchild Republic A-10 and F-16 strike aircraft,

the report suggests: “Ukraine could use some of

these aircraft – along with trainers and spare parts

– particularly for close air support missions to aid

Ukrainian ground forces.”

Our analysis of Cirium data shows that the US

military has a 62% share of the combined 5,652

fighters operated by NATO members today, with

Washington’s forces accounting for a total of 3,503

jets (see table, p75).

With the nation’s main operating bases having been

targeted, Ukraine’s remaining combat aircraft must

operate from dispersed locations. Once airborne,

they face the dual threat posed by air-defence

systems and Russian air force strike aircraft armed

with long-range air-to-air missiles. But also lacking

air superiority above its neighbour’s territory, Kyiv’s

adversary is largely restricted to deploying cruise

missiles against targets from within Russia.

“What’s interesting through the lens of Ukraine

– those outside looking in would say – is that combat

air hasn’t turned up,” observes Air Marshal Harv

Smyth, the RAF’s deputy commander (operations).

“What has been interesting to watch is the Ukrainians:

their appetite to take attrition, to put themselves

in harm’s way, to deliver effect that they can only

deliver with air, and their innovative way to be able to

achieve temporal control of the air so that they can

get in to deliver that effect and get back out,” he says.

“What’s interesting

through the lens of Ukraine

– those outside looking in

would say – is that combat

air hasn’t turned up”

Air Marshal Harv Smyth Deputy commander (operations),

Royal Air Force

“Are you going to allow it all to be attrited in the

first six months and have nothing left, if all you’ve got

is a small air force? Actually, you want to keep those

because they are quite precious assets to allow you

to go after the killer blows when you can achieve

them,” he said during a Royal Aeronautical Society

lecture in London on 1 February.

“It doesn’t have to cost millions or billions,” Smyth

notes. “Some of this can be done quite innovatively

for not that much money, and really have quite an

effect on your adversary.”

Referring to the Russian air force’s performance in

the war, he says: “We know a lot of their equipment –

particularly the newer stuff – is very good. The Su-35

is a very good aeroplane. [But] it’s about the person in

the cockpit, and how well they have been trained.


Ukraine Fighters

Crown Copyright

“Things that we would have expected to see

happen with those types of high-end platforms have

not necessarily panned out that way.”

Looking beyond the conflict, he asks: “What does

this look like after the shooting stops? Ukraine might

not be configured to police its own skies.” He draws a

potential comparison with the Dayton Accords, which

led to NATO performing air policing duties over the

Balkans after the war in Kosovo ended in 1999.

Should momentum continue towards equipping

Kyiv with advanced combat aircraft, analysis of the

current 30 NATO nations exposes the significant

challenge facing any would-be equipment donors.

Twenty alliance members have fighters in current

use, while another nine – Albania, Estonia, Iceland,

Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, North

Macedonia and Slovenia – lack such a capability.

Slovakia’s government last year halted the use

of its 10 remaining MiG-29s – and indicated a

willingness to transfer them to Ukraine – but has 14

new F-16s on order.

Second-hand jets

NATO’s eastern European members are rapidly

phasing out their remaining Soviet-era combat aircraft.

In addition to Poland’s soon-to-depart MiG-29s

and Su-22s, Romania plans to retire the last of its

MiG-21s by mid-May. MiG-29 and Su-25 user Bulgaria

is acquiring F-16s, and Croatia’s MiG-21s will be

replaced by ex-French air force Dassault Rafales.

The most popular suggested way to strengthen

the Ukrainian air force would be for the service to

receive used F-16s, but apart from the USA it is difficult

to see where these could come from. Norway,

for example, last year retired its fleet of A/B-model

examples, but has sold 32 to Romania and another 12

to adversary training company Draken International.

Other surplus F-16s freed up as several European

nations transitioned to operating the Lockheed F-35

have been the subject of previous similar sales. The

Netherlands is continuing its move towards being

an all-F-35 force, while F-16 operators Belgium and

Denmark will do the same in the coming years.

And any nation considering donating part of its

critical fighter inventory should bear in mind that

acquiring replacement new-build jets will typically

incur a waiting time of at least three years.

Poland previously proposed transferring

its MiG-29s – a type Ukraine already flies

Peter Foster/Shutterstock

NATO fighter aircraft fleets

Belgium

Bulgaria

Canada

Croatia

Czech Republic

Denmark

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Italy

The Netherlands

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Slovakia

Spain

Turkey

UK

USA

Total

Aircraft type(s)**

F-16

F-35A

F-16

MiG-29

Su-25

F/A-18

F-35A

MiG-21

Rafale

Gripen

F-35A

L-159

F-16

F-35A

Mirage 2000D

Mirage 2000-5

Rafale

Eurofighter

F-35A

Tornado

F-4

F-16

Mirage 2000

Mirage 2000-5

Rafale

Gripen

L-39NG

AMX

AV-8B

Eurofighter

F-35A/B

Tornado

F-16

F-35A

F-35A

F-16

F-35A

FA-50

MiG-29

Su-22

F-16

F-16

MiG-21

F-16

AV-8B

Eurofighter

F/A-18

F-4

F-16

F-35B

Eurofighter Typhoon

A-10

AV-8B

F-15/EX

F-16

F-22

F-35

F/A-18

Active

52

13

7

87

88

11

Source: Cirium fleets data (as of 20 February 2023)

Notes: Albania, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, North

Macedonia and Slovenia have no fighter aircraft

*Pending contract confirmation **Including dedicated trainers

14

24

43

6

72

26

135

133

112

32

154

18

24

10

14

25

15

91

22

47

26

33

37

48

29

32

25

17

16

13

70

84

48

243

29

124

288

99

420

957

184

576

979

5,652

Ordered*

34*

8+8*

12

24*

6+15*

39+94*

38

35*

14

12

5+62*

18*

2+12*

32*

48

14

20

5+103*

6+136*

42+1,828*

76

347+2,383*


So, could a “quick fix” solution be found via a UK

donation of some of the RAF’s oldest, Tranche 1-standard

Typhoons? The service is scheduled to retire

these jets by 2025, as it increases the number of short

take-off and vertical landing F-35Bs in use.

Being retired due to equipment obsolescence issues,

the fighters could be used by Ukraine in a defensive

counter-air role, but lack the ground-attack potential

of newer production examples and cannot deploy

MBDA’s Brimstone and Meteor missiles.

In an article published on 9 February, Professor

Justin Bronk of the UK’s Royal United Services

Institute described the potential transfer of RAF

Typhoons as “a very expensive symbolic gesture”.

Operational limitations

Bronk notes that the Typhoon’s design – with

under slung engine intakes vulnerable to foreign

object damage – makes it “poorly suited to

Ukrainian requirements” for austere operation. “It

is designed for operations from relatively smooth

runways and is not optimised for short-field landings

on rough surfaces,” he says, while adding: “The same

goes for the F-16.”

He also notes that as the Typhoon is “fairly complex

to maintain”, supplied aircraft would need to be

accompanied by specialist support personnel and

equipment located at bases “that would become

prime targets for Russian strikes”.

“Western fighters do offer a significantly enhanced

capacity to push Russian fighters back further from

the front lines and provide a better deterrent against

future attempts to push deeper into Ukrainian

airspace,” he says.

“However, these aircraft will have to fly very low

in order to avoid the Russian GBAD [ground-based

air defence] threat, and so their missiles will be at a

significant effective range disadvantage compared

with Russian ones that are being launched from

much higher up.”

But, alluding to the recent multinational action on

supplying main battle tanks, Bronk notes: “If Typhoon

Tranche 1 is the symbolic silver bullet required

to unlock such a deal, then the UK government

must under stand the costs for RAF readiness and

capability of doing so, and urgently fund replacement

aircraft, spare parts kits, munitions and engineering

specialists to alleviate the impact on the core of the

UK’s combat air capability.”

The calls to swiftly equip Kyiv with advanced

Western fighters are unlikely to quieten down as the

war continues, but they cannot gloss over the very

substantial challenges faced during the introduction

of any new aircraft.

“Western fighters do offer

a significantly enhanced

capacity to push Russian

fighters back further

from the front lines and

provide a better deterrent

against future attempts

to push deeper into

Ukrainian airspace”

Professor Justin Bronk Royal United Services Institute

“Kit is not the same as capability,” Air Marshal Sir

Richard Knighton, the RAF’s deputy commander for

capability and people, told the UK House of Commons

Defence Select Committee on 1 February, responding

to a question about supplying advanced equipment to

Ukraine. “To deliver meaningful capability, you have to

have the training, the support and the supply chain.”

Others have pointed to the apparent suitability of

Saab’s Gripen C for the kind of dispersed and austere

Washington’s stance on UAV transfers frustrates General Atomics boss

Greg Waldron Singapore

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems chief

executive Linden Blue has criticised Washington for

not approving the provision of large unmanned air

vehicles (UAVs) such as the company’s MQ-1C Gray

Eagle and MQ-9 Reaper to Ukraine.

Speaking earlier this year, Blue revealed that his

company had held extensive discussions with the US

government about potentially providing high-altitude,

long-endurance systems to Kyiv, but these had drawn

a blank. It even offered to provide two companyowned

aircraft used for training, plus related

equipment, for the “symbolic price” of $1 per system.

“We have offered to train Ukrainian operators on

these systems at no cost to US taxpayers or the

Ukrainian government,” Blue says. “We have offered

flexible options and recommendations for delivery.

“We have discussed the situation endlessly at

every level of the US federal government, and with

many international partners.”

Blue argues that if they were provided with

such systems, Ukrainian forces would gain the

“information dominance” required to win the war.

Tactical UAVs have already played a prominent role

during the conflict, with Kyiv making extensive and

high-profile use of the Turkish-supplied Baykar

Bayraktar TB2 system.

In mid-2022, Reuters reported that the US

Department of Defense intended to sell four Gray

Eagle UAVs to Ukraine, following an extensive review.

However, the proposed transaction still required

approval from the Department of State and Congress.

“Many of the additional costs associated with

readying these aircraft for combat – outfitting

them with the necessary equipment, transporting

them to Ukraine, setting up operations in that


Ukraine Fighters

Research indicates that Ukraine has

lost 16 Su-25s since the conflict began

Endre Karpati/Shutterstock

fighter operations now being staged in Ukraine, owing

to Sweden’s emergency road basing concept. NATO

members the Czech Republic and Hungary each have

14-strong Gripen fleets, while Sweden has almost 100,

plus 60 new-generation Gripen Es on order.

NATO expansion

While it would seem highly unlikely that Stockholm

would consider depleting its own air force strength at

a time of heightened Russian aggression, both it and

neighbouring Finland also are yet to join NATO. Their

accession protocols have so far secured approval from

28 member states, with Hungary and Turkey yet to

sign off on their addition to the alliance – an expansion

that would be completed at a proposed record pace.

Ultimately, however, a decision on supplying

fighters could come down to the USA, which today

provides the largest amount of assistance to Ukraine

in equipment volume and monetary terms, having so

far pledged support worth more than $31 billion.

In the nearer term, Ukraine could indeed

potentially field additional combat aircraft – but

of the same kind that it already operates. With

MiG-29s departing the fleets in Poland and Slovakia,

such a transfer could help Kyiv to maintain critical

operating mass for now, while longer-term measures

are prepared.

But even that would fall short of giving the nation

the equipment boost it needs to help propel it

further on the path to victory and freedom.

Hellfire-armed Gray Eagle could provide

Kyiv critical ‘information dominance’

country, obtaining satellite bandwidth and providing

additional supporting labour – are outside our

control,” Blue notes.

In addition to providing extended intelligence,

surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, both

US Army

the MQ-1C and MQ-9 are able to carry weapons

including Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire air-tosurface

missiles.

“Factoring in hardware and training that is

essentially free, the offer is a remarkable deal, with

no strings attached,” Blue says of the company’s

proposal. “All that is required is approval from the

US government.

“Our goal is now, and has always been, to help the

Ukrainian armed forces defend and protect their

homes and families, and help bring a rapid closure

to this conflict before more lives are lost,” he says.

“Our estimates for launch and ongoing operations

do not include one penny of profit to our company.”

US President Joe Biden’s administration has

already supplied Kyiv with a large number of

smaller UAVs, including 15 Boeing Insitu ScanEagle

systems, hand-launched AeroVironment Pumas

and the same company’s Switchblade loitering

munitions, as well as Aevex Aerospace Phoenix

Ghost systems.


From yuckspeak to tales of yore, send your offcuts to murdo.morrison@flightglobal.com

@JonnyLutton

Anti-social

media

Has British Airways’ ban on employees posting on

social media platforms while engaged in professional

activities backfired?

Several pilots have built huge personal Twitter,

TikTok and Instagram followings with their

spectacular photos and videos from the cockpit

depicting the likes of the aurora borealis and iconic

aerial cityscapes.

As ambassadors for the flag carrier, they provide

the sort of positive publicity and goodwill BA would

need to spend millions on advertising and charm

offensives to achieve, helping to make flying and the

brand exciting and glamorous again after what has

been a rough few years.

Some, however, appear to have found a way around

the po-faced prohibition.

@JonnyLutton says he has employed a courtroom

artist for future tweets.

“The budget is very tight,” he remarks. “I can

confirm this was commissioned while at my home

and not at LHR or on a jet.”

Travelling

fur-st class

When you are the only airline serving remote

communities – indeed their only practical transport link

to the rest of the world – you mess with the service

your customers are used to at your peril, particularly

when domesticated animals are involved.

So it was when Loganair hiked the charge for

carrying pets from £20 to £100 for a return journey,

a decision chief executive Jonathan Hinkles revealed

recently was one of the most controversial in his time

running the small Scottish-based airline.

Loganair’s move, in 2018, sparked an “internet storm”

and accusations of profiteering from its clientele,

Hinkles admitted to Aviation Club luncheon guests. He

says the carrier had no choice: too many passengers

were taking their pets on their trips simply because

it was cheaper than paying for kennels. Loganair was

turning away those who needed to take their pets

because there was no room in the hold.

Hinkles won back many fans during the pandemic.

Loganair was one of the few airlines in Europe that

continued flying throughout, carrying everyone from

essential workers heading to North Sea oil rigs to

patients to hospital appointments on the mainland.

Lunch failure

Evidence surely that media hospitality budgets are

not what they were.

An invitation arrives from an electric vertical takeoff

and landing (eVTOL) developer to mark diaries

for a midday media event at which it was due to

make a major programme announcement.

“Since it will be at lunch time,” advises the sender,

“please feel free to bring your lunch.”

US Navy

From the archive

100

1923 Airships as carriers

The experiments which have been made in the

United States during the last couple of years, and

the decision resulting from these experiments of

building airships to act as aircraft carriers, should

give us something to think about. We in this country

were the first to suspend aeroplanes from the keel

of a rigid airship and drop them while in the air. The

airship may give military aeroplanes the necessary

range by carrying them the greater part of the way to

the objective, then dropping them to do their work.

The fact that America has a monopoly on helium

makes her position even stronger, and although a

war between Great Britain and the United States is

unthinkable, by using airships as carriers America has

brought Europe within flying distance of New York.

75

1948 Running on the wing

The R.A.F. were this year unable to repeat their

1947 victory over the Army at Twickenham on April

3rd. This last Inter-Service match of the season was

less exciting than the earlier two, but there were

nevertheless some bright moments. Douglas, the very

big wing, looked the most dangerous of the R.A.F.

outsides, running fast and very hard indeed if ever the

ball came his way. But just before a rainstorm, which

altered the game considerably, Cameron dropped a

slick straight-from-the-book goal which put the Army

in an almost unassailable position with a score of 11

points to 3. Too late the R.A.F. took the initiative as

the rain ceased. Since 1920, and omitting the war

years of 1940 to 1945, the Army has won 15 matches,

the Royal Air Force 7, and one match was drawn.


Straight & Level

“When they told me it was some

kind of pilotless fighter project,

I didn’t think they meant this.”

A Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion from the US Marine

Corps’ Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Sqn

performs an external load certification lift of an

inoperable Lockheed Martin F-35 at NAS Patuxent

River, to help inform future lift capabilities

Say again

Real-time transcripts – where an individual, or possibly

an AI device, simultaneously types what a speaker is

saying – are notorious for mishearing certain words.

At Boeing’s recent earnings call, the Truss-braced

Transonic Wing project appeared as “trust-based

transonic win”.

Roo-d response

The person behind Ryanair’s Twitter account is a

genius of sarcasm.

“Ryanair, where’s the pouch? Can I pay extra for

one?” demanded one user, with a picture of the Irish

airline’s minimalist seatback.

The reply? “It’s a seat not a kangaroo.”

1973 Pass the sniff test

50

A device to detect explosives by sampling the air

nearby has been developed by Stanford Research

Institute. This could eliminate the need for a physical

search of airline passengers and their baggage,

although it should be used in conjunction with

a metal detector. A vacuum hose is passed over

passengers’ clothes, skin and hair, the air then being

passed through a small oven which breaks down nitro

groups to form nitric oxide. When mixed with oxygen

or ozone, the nitric oxide produces light which is

amplified by a photomultiplier, an alarm being set off

if the concentration exceeds a preset value. Dr Sidney

Benson, who has patented the device, is confident the

equipment will detect explosives even inside a new

bullet which has not been inside a discharged gun.

25

1998 Alenia’s Zappa is frank

The president of Alenia’s aerospace division, Georgio

Zappa, has criticised France, Germany and the

UK for their continued failure to define the future

shape of the European aerospace industry. Zappa

also attacks Aerospatiale, British Aerospace and

Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa) for not including

Alenia Aerospazio in the talks leading up to the

transformation of Airbus into a commercial Single

Corporate Entity (SCE). “I believe they have made a

big mistake... I cannot understand why we have not

been invited to join the SCE,” he says. He stresses

that Alenia is not “anxious” to enter Airbus, and hints

that if the current situation is not resolved it will

continue its hitherto successful policy of establishing

bilateral alliances “as the market dictates”.


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Browse or customise a gift or memento from our

of more than 1000 aircraft drawings


Inspired by emerging technology and the ethics

of safety, Danielle McLean is helping to pioneer

the future of aviation via her role with a non-profit

organisation backing the use of hydrogen fuel

HySky ambitions

Pilar Wolfsteller Las Vegas

In 2018, Danielle McLean was studying for her

Master’s degree while working as an aerospace

engineer at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas.

During a class about sustainable aviation, she had

an epiphany.

“I learned about electric vertical take-off and

landing [eVTOL] vehicles. We studied hydrogen, and

the feasibility of its use in aviation,” McLean says.

“This was everything that I believed in, converging

into this really cool technology.”

She became obsessed with emissions-free flight –

particularly with hydrogen propulsion – and dropped

everything to pursue this sudden new-found passion.

“I quit my Master’s, I quit my job and started my

own company. I was reading papers every night,

it was getting to a point where I was advising my

advisors. I thought, ‘We can totally do this hydrogen

thing’, and we did.”

She called her start-up “Happy Takeoff”. The

company retrofitted a large drone, and flew it on

hydrogen power.

“One of the biggest challenges that we had, funnily

enough, was not the actual flight itself, but accessing

hydrogen,” she says. “It was very difficult to find

hydrogen, we had to travel hours to get a couple of

tanks. So it was extremely inefficient.”

Shared vision

Through Happy Takeoff, she met others who shared

her thirst for knowledge in making hydrogen

fuel-cell-powered air vehicles viable. The group’s

members met regularly online and conducted educational

webinars to learn from each other. They morphed

into the “H2eVTOL Council” under the auspices

of the Vertical Flight Society (VFS). McLean eventually

became its chair, and VFS’s hydrogen advisor.

“There were five of us when we started in 2020.

Within a few months, we had 100 people. Now, three

years later, we’ve got 400 people in that group,”

McLean says. The Council recently was spun off from

the VFS to form the non-profit HySky Society, with

VFS remaining a strategic partner.

“Our mission is to advance hydrogen aviation

across North America,” she says. “We really see

a need for that. There was just no organisation

dedicated to that in the US. We’ve been watching

other countries, especially in Europe, become competitive

in the hydrogen aviation space, and they are

much farther ahead. We want to learn from them.”

The group is now planning what it describes as

“the world’s largest hydrogen aviation event”, set

to take place virtually, in June. McLean is hoping for

1,000 participants.

But her passion for building a more environmentally-friendly

way to power flight runs much deeper.

Studying engineering ethics at university – and

an ensuing aviation disaster – made a profound

impression on her and her classmates.

“The conclusion we all came to on our own… was

that every catastrophic disaster that has come from

something man-made was a result of leadership not

listening to engineers.

“In your career you will encounter business

executives that are going to say: ‘That’s too

expensive. That won’t work. We don’t have time. That

will take too long.’ But never, never waver from your

ethics, because people could die,” McLean adds.

“That stuck with me.”

Then two Boeing 737 Max aircraft – whose fuselages

came from the company she worked for in Wichita

– crashed, killing a combined total of 346 people.

“When the 737 Max aircraft crashed, I just kept

thinking about that,” she says.

Like building a new aircraft, tackling climate

change is also an engineering challenge that must

be mastered. Environmental concerns and the ethics

of engineering and safety are the two issues that

drive her today.

“And it being too expensive, or taking too long just

isn’t… a good enough answer.”

Once she jumped into sustainable aviation, McLean

found that large aerospace companies, which may

“The boys had this

knowledge I didn’t have.

But the eVTOL space was

new to all of us. It was a

level playing field”


Women in aviation

McLean views climate change as an

engineering challenge to be mastered

Danielle McLean

have the resources and staff to develop, fund and test

these kinds of new technologies, were reluctant to engage.

The risk for them, she says, may just be too high.

“It’s really hard for a legacy company that’s so big,

like Boeing, to pivot from what makes them Boeing.

They have so much inertia towards what they’re doing

well – which is dominating the aviation industry with

their aircraft – that it is hard to make the business case

for them to invest in hydrogen or electric or whatever.

It would be disrupting their own business.” So, she

adds, it is up to small, scrappy, agile players to push

the envelope on this technology.

She cites one more reason why she chose to spearhead

innovation in an exciting new part of the industry.

“At university, I was always the only girl in my

labs. For a long time, I always felt like I was playing

catch-up. The boys had this foundational knowledge

and language that I just didn’t have. I only knew the

technical terms for things, and not the slang. It was

scary and super-uncomfortable. When I was a kid,

I wasn’t allowed to play with my dad’s tools, in the

garage, even though I wanted to. I was raised with

dolls and kitchen sets, and my brothers were raised

with tools and guns and army guys.

Information sharing

“But the eVTOL space was all new to all of us. It

was a level playing field. We were all asking the

same questions, and we all were sharing the same

information. So that’s another beautiful thing that’s

happening right now.

“I was in my element. Finally,” McLean says.

The lesson she learned? Always look forward.

“I’m not focusing my energy on trying to change

the old any more, let’s just build the new.

“Let’s just do it ourselves.” ◗

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