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Pratt & Whitney Receives $115 Million for F135 Engine Core Upgrade

A U.S. Air Force F-35A assigned to the 34th Fighter Squadron departs from a KC-10 Extender aircraft after receiving fuel over Poland on Feb. 24 (U.S. Air Force Photo)

Raytheon Technologies‘ [RTX] Pratt & Whitney snared a more than $115 million contract last week for the F135 engine core upgrade for the Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35 fighter.

Pratt & Whitney is to finish the work under the new contract by May of next year.

“The F135 engine core upgrade delivers the fastest, most cost efficient, lowest risk path to F-35 Block 4 capability,” Pratt & Whitney said in a statement after DoD announced the contract on Nov. 29.

DoD’s upcoming fiscal 2024 budget may lay out the future engine path for the F-35—whether that be the Pratt & Whitney proposed Enhanced Engine Package (EEP) for the fighter’s existing Pratt & Whitney F135 engine or a new power plant, such as General Electric‘s [GE] proposed XA100 Tri-Variant Adaptive (TVA) engine (Defense Daily, Oct. 11).

Jill Albertelli, president of Pratt & Whitney’s Military Engines business, said in a statement last week that the F135 “has been pushed beyond its original specifications for too long” and that the F-35 engine core upgrade “saves taxpayers $40 billion in lifecycle costs and builds upon a combat-tested engine architecture that has more than one million flight hours.”

Technology Refresh 3 (TR3)—spurred by the L3Harris [LHX] integrated core processor—is the computer backbone for Block 4, which is to have 88 unique features and to integrate 16 new weapons on the F-35. The F-35 program has said that the fighter will need a new or significantly upgraded engine with improved electrical power and cooling capacity to accommodate the 53 new capabilities slated for F-35 Block 4.

Pratt & Whitney has said that EEP has “ample design margin” to accommodate Block 4. House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said in the company’s statement last week that the new DoD contract “will protect good paying union jobs in Connecticut, while providing a much needed charge to our economy.”

The F135 supports 27,000 jobs in the state, and EEP “is the only propulsion option that is a ‘drop in’ solution for all variants, adding no weight and avoiding disruptive and costly air vehicle changes that would introduce additional costs, schedule delays, and technical risk,” Pratt & Whitney said.

While TVA has a degree of commonality with the company’s XA100 design for the U.S. Air Force F-35A, adapting the XA100 engine or a derivative of it for the U.S. Marine Corps’ F-35B short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft would require a separate development effort, the F-35 program said in September (Defense Daily, Sept. 28).

General Electric’s GE Aviation subsidiary has its headquarters in Evendale, Ohio outside of Cincinnati.

In October, 48 representatives urged DoD to invest in next generation, adaptive propulsion for fighters in a letter co-sponsored by Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio).

In all, 13 of 16 Ohio representatives signed the letter.

GE has said that it began working with the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) in the fall of last year on evaluating whether GE could alter the proposed XA100 for the U.S. Air Force’s Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP) to fit on the F-35B.

The company “performed a study with the F-35 JPO and the AETP program Office to see if the XA100 or a derivative thereof could be adapted to work in the STOVL F-35B,” the F-35 JPO said in September. “The resultant XA100 TVA is based on the current CTOL [conventional take-off and landing] F-35A XA100 and maintains a level of commonality, but is significantly different enough that it would require its own independent EMD.”

The F-35 program and GE have declined to disclose the total nor specific projected costs of the independent EMD, but the company did say that adapting the XA100 or a variant of it for the F-35B is viable and that that engine design satisfies user improvement requests for the current engine.

The F-35 program has said that the fighter will need a new or significantly upgraded engine with improved electrical power and cooling capacity to accommodate the 53 new capabilities slated for F-35 Block 4.

The Air Force has funded the AETP since 2016.

This article was first published by Defense Daily, a sister publication to Avionics International; it has been edited. View the original version here >>

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Airlines in the EU Will Soon Provide 5G Connectivity to Passengers

In late November, the European Commission ruled that airlines will be able to provide 5G connectivity on planes. (Photo: European Commission)

In late November, the European Commission ruled that airlines will be able to provide 5G connectivity on planes. The Commission’s ruling has reserved specific frequencies to enable in-flight mobile communications since 2008. The new implementing decision makes widespread 5G deployment possible.

Cell carriers in the U.S. are still limiting the use of 5G around airports because of concerns about interference with aircraft equipment. In particular, the Federal Aviation Administration and some U.S. airlines are worried about 5G interfering with radio altimeters—critical equipment for landing a plane in low visibility conditions.

“Altimeters operate at frequencies of around 4.2 to 4.4 GHz, and certain altimeters without modern filtering technology can pick up interference from devices operating in nearby frequencies,” explained James Bikales, writing for the Washington Post. These frequencies are near those used by 5G networks in the U.S.—3.7 and 3.98 GHz. In comparison, 5G in Europe operates at frequencies of 5 GHz and higher. This provides more “gap spacing” and reduces concerns about interference.

There have been more than 100 incidents reported that involve potential 5G interference since January 2022. The FAA released a statement in June requiring regional aircraft operators to install radio frequency filters if their plane is among the most susceptible to this kind of interference.

A group of aviation stakeholders that includes the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) is encouraging the FAA as well as the Department of Transportation and Department of Commerce to address this issue proactively. The aim is to avoid preventable flight delays and cancellations while introducing a solution that allows 5G to grow.

Some airlines in the U.S. have installed radio altimeter replacements for their in-service Airbus A320 model aircraft. They are installing an upgraded version of the legacy ERT 530 radio altimeter designed by avionics manufacturer Thales. As of mid-September, 50 of these aircraft had already been retrofitted with the ERT 530R.

There are still concerns about offering 5G connectivity in-flight for European airlines. If hundreds of passengers are trying to connect to 5G antennas at the same time, the output power could be high enough to raise concerns for electronic aircraft equipment.

In his article for the Washington Post, Bikales shared comments from Tom Wheeler, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, who believes that concerns about altimeter interference may be overblown. “The reality is that the vast, vast majority of aircraft have altimeters that are shielded from the signals,” Wheeler stated. Additionally, older aircraft models are either being replaced or shielded.

The technical concerns that led to a ban on cell phone use in-flight may be addressed by the latest advancements in picocell technology. Picocells connect to satellite networks or ground-based networks and then emit a low power signal throughout an aircraft.

The post Airlines in the EU Will Soon Provide 5G Connectivity to Passengers appeared first on Avionics International.

AUVSI Launches “Drone Prepared” Initiative to Support Uncrewed Aircraft

Today, the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) announced the launch of Drone Prepared—an advocacy campaign designed to support lawmakers in preparing their communities for the benefits that uncrewed and autonomous aircraft will bring. (Photo: AUVSI)

The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) launched a multi-state advocacy campaign this week called “Drone Prepared.” The initiative aims to support lawmakers as they prepare their state or locality for uncrewed and autonomous aircraft operations.

To explain the importance of the new campaign, AUVSI’s announcement noted the expanding drone industry and cited the Federal Aviation Administration’s recent estimate that there are 869,000 registered drones. It is expected that there will be 2.49 million operational drones by the year 2025.

“The Drone Prepared campaign provides critical resources for communities to understand the complex, evolving industry and begin preparing in ways that will welcome the industry, and its benefits, to their geographies,” commented Michael Healander, President and CEO at Airspace Link, in the AUVSI announcement.

AUVSI will engage with its network of chapters and local advocates in order to educate lawmakers about preparing for increasing numbers of drones in the airspace and taking advantage of the associated economic and environmental benefits. The Drone Prepared initiative also includes plans to establish coalitions with various partners, publish research, and make recommendations for solutions.

Some of the partners of the new advocacy campaign include Airspace Link, Echodyne, and Aura Network Systems, which are all members of AUVSI’s Air Advocacy Committee.

The Association’s Director of Government Affairs, Michael Smitsky, remarked that commercial drone operations offer tremendous growth potential. “We welcome opportunities to share with lawmakers how they can unlock scalable, secure and sustainable commercial drone operations that will benefit their communities—while maintaining the highest levels of airspace safety and regulatory compliance,” he remarked in response to the announcement about Drone Prepared.

The Drone Prepared Flight Plan is a document created by AUVSI that outlines the strategies behind its legislative proposals for next year. The four steps of the flight plan are:

Look for Opportunities to Promote Drone Use for Public Benefit
Leave Air Navigation and Aviation Safety to the FAA
Leverage Existing Law
Use Caution When Adopting Drone-Specific Laws or Requirements

Read the full Drone Prepared Flight Plan and learn more about the advocacy campaign here.

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Archer’s Demonstrator Aircraft Achieves Full Transition Flight

On Tuesday, Nov. 29, Archer completed Maker’s first full transition flight after several months of intensive flight testing. (Photo: Archer Aviation)

Maker, the demonstrator aircraft developed by Archer Aviation, made its first successful transition from vertical lift to full wing-borne flight last week. Maker is a full-scale electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft with 12 propellers attached to six booms on a fixed wing. The demonstrator aircraft flew at a speed of 105 miles per hour (91 knots).

View the video of Maker’s transition flight here >>

Archer’s Maker aircraft utilizes a 12-tilt-6 configuration, as does its production eVTOL aircraft, Midnight. The 12-tilt-6 configuration means that the vehicles feature six propellers that are tilted forward in cruise position in order to provide propulsion during forward flight. All 12 of the aircraft’s propellers generate vertical lift during take-off and landing.

The team officially unveiled the Midnight aircraft in mid-November. Archer also revealed plans to build a manufacturing facility in Georgia near the Covington Municipal Airport. The facility is expected to start production in 2024 and be able to produce up to 650 eVTOLs each year.

Archer’s production aircraft, Midnight (Photo: Archer Aviation)

In November, Archer also announced suppliers for Midnight’s flight deck and battery cells. Garmin has agreed to supply the G3000 integrated flight deck, and Molicel signed a memorandum of understanding to produce battery cells to power the eVTOL.

Another leading eVTOL developer, Lilium, achieved a full transition from hover to wing-borne flight with its technology demonstrator in September. Its Phoenix 2 aircraft performed the full transition on the main wings as well as the canard wings. Lilium has been conducting flight tests with the Phoenix 2 in Spain since this spring. The team achieved its first main wing transition flight in June.

Archer expects to certify its aircraft with the Federal Aviation Administration in late 2024. “The data and experience we’ve gathered from Maker’s rigorous flight testing program has been invaluable to the development and certification path of Midnight,” remarked Adam Goldstein, Archer’s founder and CEO, regarding Maker’s successful transition flight.

“During this flight, Maker’s tilt propellers were locked in cruise position for the first time and the aircraft flew at a calibrated airspeed of 91 knots.” (Photo: Archer Aviation)

Dr. Geoff Bower, Archer’s Chief Engineer, also shared in a blog post that achieving transition is a significant milestone for any aircraft that performs vertical take-off and landing. “The power required to fly Maker during wingborne flight is about three times smaller than during hover. Flying the majority of a trip in wingborne flight is critical to maximizing aircraft efficiency; in other words, carrying a payload at a high speed for a useful range,” wrote Dr. Bower.

Pictured above is an OVERFLOW CFD simulation showing the aerodynamic interactions between propellers and airframe during a transition. “The transition between hover and wingborne flight is traditionally also the most difficult to fly due to the rapidly changing aircraft configuration, hard to predict aerodynamic interaction effects, changing flight dynamics, and the associated control law changes.” – Chief Engineer Dr. Geoff Bower (Photo: Archer Aviation)

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Consortium of Manufacturers Unite to Find Cleaner Aviation Technologies

MTU Aero Engines is coordinating a newly formed consortium of aerospace technology companies to develop hybrid-electric and water-enhanced turbofan technology. The consortium includes Pratt & Whitney, Collins Aerospace, GKN Aerospace, Airbus, the University of Stuttgart, and others. (Photo: MTU Aero Engines)

Various aerospace technology companies have come together in a collaborative partnership to develop water-enhanced and hybrid-electric propulsion systems for aircraft. The partnership, coordinated by MTU Aero Engines AG (MTU), is supported by the European Union Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking (Clean Aviation) and includes partners like Collins Aerospace (Collins), University of Stuttgart, Pratt & Whitney, GKN Aerospace, and Airbus. The goal of this consortium is to reduce CO2 emissions from aircraft by up to 25%.

The collaboration between leading aerospace companies is needed for the aviation industry to become more sustainable, especially as pressure from both regulators and the public over aircraft emissions intensifies. As Geoff Hunt, Pratt & Whitney’s Senior Vice President of Engineering and Technology, explained, “Given the challenge of reducing the environmental impact of aviation, cross-industry collaboration and public-private partnerships like Clean Aviation will play a vital role in delivering the technology breakthroughs needed to make net zero emissions aviation a reality.”

The group’s main focus is to use its combined knowledge, technology, and resources to support its Sustainable Water-Injecting Turbofan Comprising Hybrid-Electrics (SWITCH) project. It plans to use two innovative technologies—water-enhanced turbofans (WETs) and hybrid-electric propulsion—to reduce the carbon footprint of aircraft. A WET creates more efficient travel by recovering water vapor released from exhaust and inserting it back into the combustion chamber. The consortium plans to combine WET with a Pratt & Whitney GTF power plant equipped with electric motors designed to improve efficiency during all stages of the flight, especially taxiing.

Researching and developing more efficient propulsion systems is key to improving the sustainability of air travel. As Sabine Klauke, Chief Technology Officer at Airbus, explained, “New propulsion technologies will play an important role in achieving aviation’s net-zero goals, along with new aircraft designs and sustainable energy sources.” The consortium of aerospace companies considered the value of these sustainable energy sources, as any technologies created by SWITCH will be compatible with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Each member of the consortium brings its assets and expertise to support the SWITCH project. Airbus has valuable insights in integrating these new technologies to current aircraft. Specifically, the aircraft manufacturer will assist in the evaluation of both aircraft designs and energy management systems. Meanwhile, Collins will supply the SWITCH program with power electronics, electric motor generators, DC distribution, and architectures for engine nacelles. Engine structures that can support the new technology, such as heat exchangers, will be provided by GKN Aerospace.

The consortium working on the SWITCH project is not the first program Clean Aviation has supported in recent times. As a public-private partnership partially supported by the European Union, it has backed several innovations aimed toward the improvement of air travel. Most recently, Clean Sky 2, a program of Clean Aviation, saw a successful maiden flight of its C295 Test Bed. This aircraft was given modifications aimed at reducing emissions and noise levels and is demonstrating promising new technologies.

Supported by powerful and successful aerospace companies, the SWITCH program is yet another project that aims to harness technology to create a cleaner future for the aviation industry. Receiving funding through 2025, the SWITCH team hopes to see positive results from the testing of its technology and the further application of its innovations to current aircraft.

The post Consortium of Manufacturers Unite to Find Cleaner Aviation Technologies appeared first on Avionics International.

Lockheed Martin and Intel Demonstrate 5G Capabilities For Military Aircraft Use

Advanced 5G.MIL connectivity, powered by Intel, drives information dominance for the Department of Defense. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)

As part of its efforts to advance future battlefield connectivity, Lockheed Martin [LMT] in partnership with Intel Corp. [INTC] has successfully conducted a laboratory demonstration of military tactical radios integrated into the company’s fifth-generation wireless military technology, paving the way for flight testing in 2023 of crewed and uncrewed aircraft for distributed teaming.

In the recent demonstration, Intel integrated a 5G Core and Open Radio Access Network into Lockheed Martin’s 5G.MIL Hybrid Base Station to show over-the-air connectivity that can be transitioned to military aircraft. The technology was hosted on ruggedized computers that can be used in fighter and other aircraft.

“The Integration of 5G and military tactical radios into our Hybrid Base Station enables resilient, link-diverse data routing throughout the battlespace to make future crewed-uncrewed distributed teaming missions possible,” John Clark, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, said in a statement. “The Lockheed Martin 5G.MIL HBS was designed using open mission systems standards so that the technology can on-ramp to multiple and varied platforms quickly in support of our customers’ transformation vision.”

Lockheed Martin said that the flight testing in 2023 will be part of the company’s Project Carrera, an evaluation of 5G distributed crewed and uncrewed military aircraft platforms in support of the Defense Department’s vision of joint all-domain operations.

Project Carrera involves partnering survivable crewed platforms with modular uncrewed assets and incorporating demonstrations of capability upgrades in operational scenarios. The project includes a gradual introduction of the Joint All Domain Operations (JADO) technology stack and experimentation, digital engineering, and human-machine interfaces with autonomous and AI capabilities.

According to the announcement from Lockheed Martin, the company will continue to explore in partnership with Intel “how to best bridge current applications of 5G commercial stacks with military datalinks to bring the most capable, resilient communications solutions to the Department of Defense.”

This article was first published by Defense Daily, a sister publication to Avionics International; it has been edited. View the original version here >>

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Drone Strategy 2.0: The Future of Unmanned Aircraft in Europe

On Nov. 29, the European Commission published Drone Strategy 2.0 to establish the role of unmanned aircraft in commercial operations over the next decade. (Photo: Copyright European Union – Cristof Echard)

On Nov. 29, the European Commission published its Drone Strategy 2.0 to lay the foundation for how unmanned aircraft will be used in the commercial and regulatory sectors. As part of a larger mission to be carbon neutral by 2050, this strategy will help regulate drone usage so it supports a more digitized and sustainable Europe.

The European Commission’s Drone Leaders Group, which consists of General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and other member companies, has looked at how drones should be regulated over the past few years. They published their final report in April, a report which became the basis for the recently released drone strategy.

Within this new drone strategy, the European Commission laid out how drones should be used in cargo and passenger operations. They also outlined performance-based and risk-based regulations as well as the skills development training needed to ensure drones are used properly. The framework is meant to ensure that drones are widely used—and regulated—by 2030.

The report draws from the current U-space regulatory framework and sets out the new Innovative Air Mobility (IAM) framework to regulate local and regional commercial air travel and the new Innovative Aerial Services (IAS) framework. IAS will regulate imaging, surveillance, mapping, and inspecting in European Union states, while IAM will focus more on the use of drones in commercial operations.

“Drones and IAM will become a part of the future urban and regional multimodal intelligent mobility ecosystem and the ground and air infrastructures enabling these transport services will be widely deployed and integrated,” said Kyle Martin, GAMA Vice President of European Affairs, in a recent press release.

The recently released report predicts that the drone sector could be valued at €14.5 billion by 2030 with over 145,000 new jobs created in the European Union over the next decade. Their vision also includes fully autonomous aircraft carriers in the commercial sector by 2030.

While the drones will have a positive impact on the economy, there are some environmental concerns around the increase in drone production. The report laid out production and recycling regulations, with the hope to decrease the environmental footprint when creating new drones and the noise pollution when they are in use.

The Drone 2.0 Strategy is confined within the European Union, but countries around the globe have started to work together to create drone regulations on an international scale. This time last year, regulators from the U.S. and EU gathered to discuss the successful integration of unmanned aircraft into civilian airspace.

When looking to the future of drones, Martin remarked, “GAMA will continue to work closely with the European Commission, EASA and Member States to make the strategy’s vision for 2030 a reality for EU citizens and businesses.”

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Q&A With Chief Operating Officer of UMILES Next

Óscar Lara, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at UMILES Next, discusses the company’s collaboration with TECNALIA and the recent test flights conducted with the Concept Integrity eVTOL prototype. (Photo: UMILES Next)

In late October, the electric air taxi prototype Concept Integrity performed its second successful test flight. The electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft was designed by UMILES Next and was equipped with FlyFree technology that was developed by TECNALIA. The test flight is part of a European demonstration project called USPACE4UAM that supports the integration of manned and unmanned aircraft into the airspace in urban environments.

Concept Integrity’s first flight took place in Toulouse in September. This second test flight was conducted at the ATLAS Test Flight Centre in Spain. Another eVTOL developer, Lilium, has also been performing flight tests at the ATLAS center since April. This fall, Lilium successfully achieved a full transition from hover to wing-borne flight with its Phoenix 2 technology demonstrator.

According to the announcement from Umiles Next, the third site where the team is conducting test flights of the Concept Integrity is Lugo, Spain.

In a written interview with Avionics International this week, Óscar Lara, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Umiles Next, shared some insights into the partnership with Tecnalia and development of the Concept Integrity aircraft.

Óscar Lara, COO of UMILES Next

Avionics: What is USPACE4UAM and how does Umiles Next participate in this project?

Óscar Lara: USPACE4UAM is a European Union project that consists of introducing new types of aircraft (drones, unmanned aircraft, air taxis) in an airspace compatible with the current airspace. Within this context, Umiles Next and Tecnalia have conducted several flight tests, testing how our air taxi can be included in these airspaces, including coordination with other actors within the airspace and identifying our potential specific needs in these new environments.

What is the extent of the partnership between Umiles Next and Tecnalia? How do the two companies benefit from working together?

Lara: Umiles Next acquired the technology developed by Tecnalia for the development of new flight systems applicable to the air taxi concept Integrity. Currently, Tecnalia is an engineering service provider of Umiles Next that is helping us in the new developments oriented to the implementation of the technology in Integrity 3 (2+1), a new aircraft in design process that represents an evolution with respect to Concept Integrity and in which all the needs are being taken into account for the Type Certification of the same.

Pictured above is the Concept Integrity team at the ATLAS center. Honeywell is leading the USPACE4UAM project, which also includes the companies Vertical Aerospace, CATEC, and ENAIRE. (Photo: UMILES Next)

Can you share any details about the Concept Integrity aircraft and the test flights?

Lara: The Concept Integrity aircraft has so far performed three outdoor flights in the cities of Toulouse, Jaén, and Lugo in which the results obtained previously, in the indoor flights performed, have been corroborated.

The objective of these flights has been to validate the different aspects of the vehicle, its flight envelopes, and, in particular, to verify its own differentiating technologies. The results so far have been very satisfactory since we have been able to verify that the behavior of the aircraft fits with a high precision to the simulations performed. For this purpose, we have tested different flight scenarios, with different ranges, maneuvers, environmental conditions, and air traffic.

An important conclusion of the flights has been the demonstration of the high safety and stability of the aircraft and, by extension, of Umiles Next’s proprietary technology (FlyFree), which presents a clear competitive advantage in the air taxi market, where this need is clearly a commercial driver.

What are some of the company’s short-term objectives?

Lara: The goals we have for the near future can be divided into two parts.

On the one hand, we have the objective of continuing to perform flights with the Concept Integrity aircraft to further validate the technology and with it the flight envelope of the aircraft.

On the other hand, we aim to continue developing the new Integrity 3(2+1), which will be the aircraft that will complete the certification process.

All this together with our autonomous ground vehicle developments will make our vision of “Changing How The Planet Moves” a reality.

“The Concept Integrity was flanked at the testing event by other unmanned aircraft at different layers with a view to proving that this new traffic type can be safely and seamlessly integrated into urban areas in the near future.” (Photo: UMILES Next)

Could you tell us more about the testing of automatic flight control and autonomous take-off and landing systems at Umiles Next?

Lara: Our Concept Integrity aircraft is conceived to be autonomous, which means implementing important innovations in the different flight control and navigation systems.

This approach has a strong implication in conventional air traffic management, which is precisely one of the points we have been working on in all these European projects.

However, we are aware that in the near future, autonomous aircraft for passenger transport will not be certifiable due to a lack of regulation. That is why we have decided to design the Integrity 3 (2+1) aircraft including a pilot as an intermediate step to a future autonomous aircraft.

Within the autonomous systems we have tested in the various flights we have made the autonomous landing and take-off systems, with success.

As everybody knows the landing and take-off phases can be the most challenging of a flight and therefore the realization of these tests means an important step towards the autonomous future of aviation.

What about detect-and-avoid technology?

Lara: We consider that detect-and-avoid systems will be a critical element to introduce this type of new aircraft in the airspace, both manned and especially autonomous, as more and more airspace will include a greater number of aircraft. The fact of increasing the number of aircraft in the airspace will imply a greater need for autonomy in sense and avoid situations.

Without these systems, that we are testing together with other companies, such as Honeywell, this automation would be complicated. That is why in the flights we have already made, one of the elements we have tested is different scenarios in which our eVTOL has faced situations of potential collision with other users of the airspace, the reaction being very positive.

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Airbus Reveals New “DisruptiveLab” Demonstrator and Other Sustainability Efforts

Airbus revealed its new flying laboratory, DisruptiveLab, to test technologies for improving aircraft performance and reducing CO2 emissions for helicopters. (Photo: Airbus)

During its annual summit this week, Airbus revealed its new flying laboratory called DisruptiveLab which was created to test technologies for improving aircraft performance and reducing CO2 emissions for helicopters. Airbus Helicopters plans to conduct the first flight of the DisruptiveLab before the end of 2022.

The French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) provided some financial support for the development of the DisruptiveLab demonstrator, which is part of the French Council for Civil Aviation Research Conseil’s roadmap.

Airbus previously developed another demonstration aircraft, the FlightLab, beginning in 2020. This concept used an H130 platform and targeted research and development of technology to enhance safety and autonomous operation. In comparison, the new DisruptiveLab is aimed at reducing the environmental footprint of aircraft and improving overall performance.

Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters, commented during the Airbus Summit 2022 that the new demonstrator is at the core of the company’s roadmap towards clean aviation. The DisruptiveLab “will combine several technology bricks with the objective to reach a reduction of 50% CO2,” Even stated.

The team at Airbus Helicopters will be testing various components such as aerodynamics, weight, and hybrid power. “The innovative architecture and the fully parallel hybrid propulsion system could only really be tested on a brand new demonstrator in order to verify the combined impact in CO2 reduction,” he commented in the announcement by Airbus.

The company made several announcements during the summit. Airbus shared that it is developing a hydrogen-powered zero-emission engine that could be integrated into its aircraft entering service by 2035. The team plans to start flight testing the new hydrogen-powered fuel cell engine onboard the ZEROe demonstrator aircraft around 2025.

“Airbus has revealed that it is developing a hydrogen-powered fuel cell engine. The propulsion system is being considered as one of the potential solutions to equip its zero-emission aircraft that will enter service by 2035.” (Photo: Airbus)

“By continuing to invest in this technology we are giving ourselves additional options that will inform our decisions on the architecture of our future ZEROe aircraft, the development of which we intend to launch in the 2027-2028 timeframe,” remarked Glenn Llewellyn, VP Zero-Emission Aircraft at Airbus.

The ZEROe aircraft concepts are all fueled by hydrogen. While three of the aircraft have engines that utilize hydrogen combustion to drive gas turbines, the fourth is configured with six eight-bladed propellers attached to engine pods. The pods contain hydrogen fuel cells to produce electricity that will power electric motors.

This flight test demonstrator is the first developed by Airbus to have a megawatt-class hydrogen fuel cell engine. The demonstrator will use the A380 MSN001 multi-modal flight test platform. Airbus will install a customized cryogenic tank inside the aircraft’s rear fuselage that will hold the liquefied hydrogen.

“With the A380 we also have an aircraft that’s already fully instrumented,” explained Mathias Andriamisaina, Head of ZEROe Demonstrators and Tests at Airbus. He is quoted in the press release from Airbus, saying, “The flight-test-instrumentation (FTI) is a big part of the project and can be a big driver in terms of cost and planning. So MSN001 was the perfect fit for us.”

Airbus announced a collaborative effort with ArianeGroup this week. They will work together to build a liquid hydrogen refueling facility at the Toulouse–Blagnac Airport in France that is expected to start operating in 2025.

“Airbus and ArianeGroup, a joint venture equally owned by Airbus and Safran, and a world leader in space propulsion technologies, will work together to build the first liquid hydrogen refuelling facility for ZEROe aircraft at Toulouse, Blagnac airport.” (Photo: Airbus)

“ArianeGroup, with its unique skills and know-how in the storage, testing, and use of liquid hydrogen, enables new industrial sectors in Europe to accelerate their energy transition,” noted André-Hubert Roussel, CEO.

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Integrating Hardware and Software in Microprocessors to Expedite Avionics Certification

Pre-integrating hardware and software components can alleviate the complications surrounding multi-core processor certification. (Photo: Intel Corporation)

After decades of relying on single-core processors to power everything from flight controls to cockpit instrumentation panels, it appears avionics manufacturers are ready to embrace multi-core processors in the hopes of saving Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) and achieving greater efficiency. But the move toward multi-core processors comes with significant concerns and complications that have impeded the ability to certify the technology.

Here, we will look at the complications surrounding multi-core processor certification and how pre-integrating hardware and software components can alleviate those issues, resulting in more efficient certification processes and safer equipment.

Multi-core complexity creates certification challenges

The concept of determinism dictates that every event has a cause. In compute terms, a two-core processor might have different cores sharing the same cache, each with its own cause.

Things can get complicated when the two converge. For example, a core handling non-safety-critical tasks could accidentally lock the cache, preventing the second core—which handles safety-critical tasks—from performing its functions. The more cores in the processor, the greater the chances of multi-channel interference between the cores.

It’s difficult to predict when or if this will happen, and that has made certifying multi-core processors historically challenging. Certification of any technology depends on that technology behaving in reliable and predictable ways. This is especially important in avionics, which holds strict Design Assurance Level (DAL) standards, particularly DAL-A and DAL-B.

Unfortunately, multi-processing has not traditionally been reliable or predictable, at least as far as avionics certification goes. Avionics manufacturers normally must run multiple cycles to determine possible failures, gather and parse swaths of data, and more—a time-consuming process.

Now, there are tangible and more efficient solutions built on pre-integrated hardware and software components, making multi-core interference much less of a concern. With these integrations, avionics manufacturers can more easily gather safety certification data from the hardware, creating a certification process that is efficient, faster, predictable, and safe.

Hardware integration addresses challenges and expedites certification

There are a few specific ways integrating hardware and software helps avionics teams address their determinism challenges and expedite their certification processes.

First, avionics manufacturers have typically needed to perform their own analysis and characterization of the processor chips they’ve purchased from vendors. That’s because most chips are provided with low-level data, requiring avionics teams to perform extensive due diligence to ensure that the chips’ data corresponds with DO-254 level safety standards.

Conversely, chips designed with both hardware and software in mind, and that already include this information, take much of the onus off avionics teams. They no longer need to concern themselves with combing through multitudes of data to ensure the chips comply with required safety standards and ensure critical workloads do not get preempted. CoreAVI and Intel are working together to help with the product developer’s bottom line. Both companies recognize how important aviation safety is for all and supporting avionics customers’ requirements. The benefits of time and engineering resources savings in platform safety certification are clear. A pre-integrated solution reduces system integrators’ risks and allows a quicker time to deployment.

Second, most multi-core processors include generic bootloaders or a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), of which avionics manufacturers may only use a subset of specialized features. Since the cost to certify a single line of code can be extraordinarily high, avionics teams need to go through the systems and remove any unnecessary code that does not require certification. They must also ensure that codes comply with the parameters around DO-178C, which requires that each line of code have a purpose (or, again, cause).

Bootloaders and BIOS that have been pre-certified and manufactured to provide avionics manufacturers with only relevant code allow avionics teams to streamline their multi-core certification processes. A board support package with just enough data to get the system up and running is an example of a system that uses an integrated hardware and software approach to provide manufacturers with precisely what they need and no more.

A look forward

Improving and accelerating certification processes is only the beginning of a series of potentially game-changing use cases that could result from the use of multi-core processors in avionics.

Multi-core processing will play a key role in making air transportation both smarter and safer. Applications like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) depend on multiple cores to be able to process information, such as wind speed and direction, from various sensors. This information is turned into actionable data that human pilots and self-piloted aircraft can use to make real-time decisions while in flight.

With enough data, a single pilot can fly without the need of a co-pilot and still effectively manage her journey; a drone can accurately drop off a package at a person’s doorstep; or the pilot of an air taxi can maximize the craft’s flight distance.

But these use cases also need the right amount of processing power to manage the data. Multi-core processors built with pre-integrated hardware and software deliver that power, creating greater efficiencies in certification and opportunities for the future.

This article was written by Debra Aubrey, Technical Product Marketing Manager, Federal and Aerospace, Intel Corporation.

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