DLR and its partners in the NATURE project are using very thin plies of carbon fiber-reinforced LMPAEK for thin-walled aerostructures. Source | DLR

Making the next generation of composite structures for space and aviation lighter and more efficient requires rethinking not only the structure, but also the material itself. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Structures and Design (Stuttgart) and the associated DLR Centre for Lightweight Production Technology (Augsburg) have recently completed a major milestone with excellent results in the project NATURE, using automated fiber placement (AFP) to manufacture laminates from very thin plies of carbon fiber-reinforced prepreg made with LMPAEK thermoplastic polymer (Victrex, Clevelys, U.K.).

The prepreg, produced by Fukuvi Chemical Industry Co. Ltd. (Fukui, Japan), features a fiber areal weight (FAW) of only 36 grams per square meter (gsm) and is only 45 microns thick — so thin that each layer of the laminate has as few as seven fibers in the vertical direction. This is approximately a third of standard carbon fiber/LMPAEK material, meaning three times the design flexibility in deciding how fibers are oriented to achieve maximum performance.

NATURE project to reduce CO_₂ emissions in aviation

Funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE), this project runs from 2023 to 2026 and focuses on the production of new lightweight helicopter structures and the holistic reduction of CO_₂ emissions across the entire life cycle.

Fraunhofer IGCV highlights

Sources | Fraunhofer, LiezDesign - Adobe Stock

Project partners — including Airbus Helicopters, Fraunhofer IGCV and Technische Universität Dresden (TU Dresden) — are considering all phases from material production and manufacturing technologies to construction methods, operation and end-of-life processes. This cradle-to-grave approach avoids conflicting effects that could arise from optimizing individual process steps in isolation. The goal is to establish sustainable design principles and manufacturing processes that contribute to a significant reduction in the ecological footprint.

Thin-walled surface structures, innovative joining technologies

The production of modern carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) components for the aerospace industry involves several energy-intensive process steps, particularly in the drilling and joining of different materials such as metals and adhesives. The resulting structural weight depends heavily on the properties and thickness of the prepreg.

Within the framework of NATURE, the consortium of experts in design, materials science, process engineering and the specific implementation scenario in helicopters are developing an innovative construction method based on thin-walled shell structures with pseudo hollow-profile stiffeners. This design enables significant mass savings without compromising the mechanical integrity of the structure.

Laboratory test bench for continuous ultrasonic welding of high-performance TPC at the DLR ZLP in Augsburg. Source | DLR

The other key focus is further development of thermoplastic composite (TPC) manufacturing technologies to make laying and joining processes more efficient. The TPC tape laying process is being adapted to enable reliable production of thin, double-curved geometries. In addition, existing TPC joining processes are being evaluated for bio-based and recycled materials.

Process automation, material efficiency via SMC

Hot press at the DLR ZLP in Augsburg is used for SMC processing (left) and SMC test plate for analyzing mold filling behavior (right). Source | DLR

Another research area within the NATURE project is the automated manufacturing of sheet molding compound (SMC) structures, specifically using process simulations to significantly reduce process finding time and energy consumption. SMC technology enables the cost-effective production of complex structural components that were historically manufactured from metal. The SMC process is fully automatable and characterized by a high potential for functional integration. This opens new possibilities for lightweight construction, offering both ecological and economic advantages.

Source | Airborne

Airborne (The Hague, Netherlands) has been awarded a contract by Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, Md., U.S.) under an Industrial Participation Program (IPP) on the development of enhanced composites automation systems. Under the project, titled “Enhancing the digital thread for composites manufacturing,” Lockheed Martin will share technical knowledge with Airborne to develop an automated laminating and kitting system to package complicated material types and shapes.

The project, building on Airborne’s advanced kit by light (KBL) and automated ply placement (APP) technologies, will advance smart material handling and intelligent automation in an aim to raise the benchmark for rapid aerospace production. It will also bring a new partner into the continued collaboration between Lockheed Martin and the Dutch industry.

The project plans to enhance Airborne’s already robust automation systems, focusing on higher production output, enhanced inspection systems, broader material compatibility and improved software integration. These developments will support the specific requirements of Lockheed Martin’s business units.

For more than 30 years, Airborne has played a leading role in the Dutch composites industry, initially as a manufacturer of composite parts and now as a developer of advanced automation systems for aerospace, defense, automotive and renewable energy markets.

“The Lockheed Martin‑Airborne collaboration will integrate smart material kit creation with advanced data‑driven automation for a flexible production system that enables the next-generation of aerospace fabrication,” says Tara Thomasson, Lockheed Martin Technical Fellow.

It further reinforces the importance of international collaboration and a strong IPP partnership. “This project will be another successful win/win opportunity, giving Airborne the enhanced capabilities for their new kitting and laminating systems and Lockheed Martin will be able to procure these enhanced systems for our production lines,” adds Joe Krapf, Lockheed Martin Industrial Participation country manager.

Juan Carlos Southwood, FIDAMC’s Felix Dominguez and Airborne’s Marcus Kremers. Source | Airborne

On Oct. 29, Airborne (The Hague, the Netherlands) and the Foundation for Research, Development, and Application of Composite Materials (FIDAMC, Madrid, Spain), a prominent research institution in composite materials, announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a partnership for joint R&D activities. This partnership aims to innovate and enhance manufacturing processes for composite materials, particularly for future aircraft programs in commercial and defense sectors.

The collaboration will address the industry challenge of automating the production of small- to medium-sized composite parts, an area currently lacking suitable automation technologies for high-rate production. Joint efforts will focus on developing and implementing scalable, efficient and cost-effective automation solutions to increase productivity and reduce material waste in composites manufacturing.

Key areas of collaboration include:

Automated ply placement (APP). APP is a novel manufacturing method for high-rate production of composite parts, either in prepreg, thermoplastic or dry fiber. It creates tailored blanks or parts by efficiently cutting the material into the required ply shapes, picking and placing them into the laminate at high accuracy.

The collaboration topics involve testing and modeling material properties; developing strategies for managing tackiness; forming laminates into 3D structures; assessing debulking and consolidation needs; and developing demonstrators showcasing APP capabilities.

The partnership will also explore optimized cutting strategies; new gripper technologies; integrate sensor technologies; and explore multi-material laminate concepts and novel laminate strategies.

Additionally, teams will assess innovative materials such as multilayer noncrimp fabrics (NCF), recycled fibers, nonwoven materials, and metallic laminates, and evaluate the role of consumables in process optimization.

Kit by light (KBL). KBL is an augmented reality (AR) solution for improving the productivity of ply cutting and kitting processes, and at the same time reduce material waste. It supports the operator during ply offloading and kitting operations, and uses distinctive and patented software to create sequenced kits in one step. It also provides the capability for automated nesting on the shopfloor by the operators directly.

Efforts will focus on demonstrating system functionality; gathering feedback for algorithm refinement; improving ergonomic aspects; and integrating KBL into digital factory ecosystems for enhanced efficiency and traceability.

A joint development roadmap will be established and regularly updated in coordination with aircraft manufacturers and composites production companies to align with industry needs. Both parties will also engage in joint marketing efforts to showcase the developed technologies. FIDAMC will have the ability to use the equipment and technologies with other partners, including production companies, aircraft manufacturers and material companies, for further testing and development of automation solutions.

Under the terms of the MOU, Airborne will provide expertise in automation and digitalization of composites manufacturing processes and share relevant technologies, including APP and KBL. FIDAMC will contribute research capabilities and facilities for material and technology development and testing, facilitate collaboration with universities and research centers, and disseminate research findings. FIDAMC will also lead efforts in training, material and process research, pre-qualification of materials and manufacturing techniques, and developing demonstrators to validate new composite applications, using its capabilities in molding, press equipment, structural testing, nondestructive inspection (NDI) and digital connectivity.

Source | Strata Manufacturing

Airbus (Toulouse, France) and Mubadala Investment Co. (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) signed a collaborative framework agreement at the 2025 Dubai Airshow that establishes the basis of cooperation in manufacturing, assembly and support activities related to the A400M.

As reported by Flightglobal.com, under the formalized agreement “Strata, an advanced aerostructure manufacturing facility, is in line to become a supplier to the A400M program, providing a number of work packages which are being defined between Strata and Airbus.”

Strata Manufacturing (Al Ain, UAE), a Mubadala subsidiary, manufactures composite aerospace parts and components for the Boeing 787, Airbus A350 and other commercial aircraft. Its 37,000-square-meter Al Ain facility centers around build-to-print production of primary and secondary composite structures and is certified by NADCAP, EN9100 and qualified by OEMs.

Since its opening, it now operates 30 production lines, with more than 90% of components and assemblies being single-sourced manufactures exclusively at Strata and delivered to the global partners. The facility reached a milestone at the end of April 2025, with the production of 100,000 aerostructure components. 

Moreover, Mubadala anticipates that these work packages with Airbus will generate new high-skilled roles in the UAE and align with national industrial priorities, including plans to open a National Aerospace Training Centre of Excellence in Al Ain to address the “growing requirement for specialist skills across the UAE’s aviation and defense sectors,” aviationbusinessme.com reports.

One of Strata’s greatest sources of pride is its workforce, 87% of which are females (read CW’s “Strata's workforce leaders share perspectives on women in manufacturing”). “Our team is highly skilled, committed, and trusted by the leading aircraft manufacturers,” says Sara Al Memari, acting CEO of Strata Manufacturing.  

Automated ply placement (APP). Source (All Images) | Airborne

At Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France, and in the presence of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, Airbus Helicopters has signed a letter of intent (LOI) to adopt Airborne’s (The Hague, Netherlands) digital automation technologies for its factory in Le Bourget, France. The goal is to optimize manufacturing efficiency and output of composite rotor hubs and helicopter blades through implementation of both Airborne’s main software and automation systems, automated ply placement (APP) and Kit by Light (KBL), respectively.

The focus will be on new automation and software to boost productivity and efficiency. Airbus’ Le Bourget factory makes all composite helicopter blades and hub structures for all Airbus helicopter models, both military and civil. “It's a high-mix production environment, ramping up to meet increasing demand, and Airborne’s industrialization technologies are an excellent fit,” says Marcus Kremers, CTO of Airborne. 

APP is already used by Airbus Commercial for the A350 program. It automates the layup process from cutter to laminate and can be used for prepreg and dry fiber, both of which are processed in Le Bourget (read “Modular, robotic cells enable high-rate RTM using any material format”). In this project, new features regarding part size, layup and quality inspection are planned to be added.

Kit by Light (KBL).

KBL is already in use at Airbus Helicopters’ sister plant in Donauwörth, Germany, where it supports operators in the cutting room with software that significantly accelerates kitting. Building on that experience, plans are to implement the system in the Le Bourget factory to reduce material waste and increase output.

Source | Airbus

Airbus (Toulouse, France) is establishing an Airbus Tech Hub in Korea. Located in Daejeon, the heart of the nation’s R&D ecosystem, the facility will serve as a dedicated center for collaborative research and innovation, solidifying Korea’s role as a strategic technology partner.

The Airbus Tech Hub will focus on three key research pillars leveraging Korea’s industrial strengths: the development of future energy technologies, advanced lightweight composites as well as next-generation defense and space technologies.

The Airbus Tech Hub in Korea is being established in close collaboration with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources (MOTIR), and Daejeon Metropolitan City.

“After five decades of successful industrial partnership with Korea, this step to launch the Airbus Tech Hub in Daejeon is a clear signal of our deepening commitment. The Tech Hub allows Airbus to tap into advanced technologies in Korea, which will help fast-track future aircraft technologies and continue to develop Korea as our trusted, long-term partner,” says Mark Bentall, head of R&T program at Airbus. Bentall adds that Daejeon, with its concentration of R&D institutes and talent, is the ideal choice, offering “the perfect synergy between advanced academia and industrial ambition, making it the essential base for joint development of future technologies that will drive the industry forward.”

Airbus’ substantial industrial presence is anchored by long-standing partnerships with Tier 1 suppliers like Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Korean Air Aerospace Division (KAL-ASD).

To accelerate the Tech Hub’s mission, Airbus signed three memorandums of understanding (MOU) during the launch ceremony. The first MOU, signed with MOTIR, establishes a framework enabling Airbus to swiftly launch research and innovation projects within Daejeon’s technology ecosystem. The second MOU, signed with Daejeon City, also outlines a commitment to support and expedite Airbus’ research and innovation initiatives across the city’s technological landscape. The third MOU, with the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), focuses on leveraging KITA’s open innovation platform in Korea to source and engage new partners identified based on the Airbus technology focus areas.

Among the projects announced at the launch of the Airbus Tech Hub in Korea, Airbus is partnering with LIG Nex1 to develop space chip antenna technology used for transmitting and receiving communication signals. Separately, Airbus is engaging with EMCoretech to develop active filtering technologies needed for electrification applications to suppress electromagnetic interference.

Airbus’ relationship with Korea spans more than 50 years, going back to 1974 when Korean Air ordered the original A300B4 widebody aircraft. Since then, the country has become a key customer base and partner across Airbus’ commercial aircraft, defense, space and helicopter product lines.

Airbus’ substantial industrial presence is anchored by long-standing partnerships with Tier 1 suppliers like Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Korean Air Aerospace Division (KAL-ASD). These partners manufacture critical components for Airbus’ global civil aircraft programs, including wing structures, fuselage assemblies and composite elements for the A320, A330 and A350 families. Numerous Korean SMEs also contribute to the supply chain. 

The Tech Hub is complemented by the recent opening of Airbus’ wholly owned subsidiary Composite Technology Centre (CTC) in Busan. CTC’s new office aims to cooperate with Busan Techno Park in the R&D of advanced composite materials and processes for aerospace. 

Korea is the fourth addition to Airbus’ global network of Tech Hubs, joining existing centers in Japan, the Netherlands and Singapore, which are designed to foster collaboration among industry leaders, academia, government agencies and startups to push boundaries of aerospace technology.

Source | Airbus “Ramping up A320 Family production”

Airbus (Toulouse, France) has opened its second final assembly line (FAL) for the A320 Family aircraft in Tianjin, China. This milestone follows an earlier agreement signed in April 2023 by Airbus CEO, Guillaume Faury and the Tianjin Free Trade Zone Investment Co. Ltd. and Aviation Industry Corp. of China Ltd. Preparations to assemble the first aircraft are underway and full operation of the facility is targeted for early 2026.

“We welcome the addition of Tianjin’s second line to our global production system, as it provides us with the necessary flexibility and capacity to deliver on our plan to assemble 75 A320 Family aircraft per month in 2027,” says Faury. “Over the past 40 years of our presence here in the country, we have come a long way in establishing trustful partnerships with the China civil aviation community, and we look forward to writing the next chapters of our future together.”

The FAL line will enable Airbus to significantly increase production close to its customers in China and beyond. It complements the global Airbus production network of 10 FALs — four in Hamburg (Germany), two in Toulouse (France), two in Mobile, Alabama in the U.S. and two in Tianjin (China). The advanced second line features Airbus’ latest technologies and processes to produce aircraft worldwide at the same company’s highest standards. In addition, the facility takes advantage of electricity from renewable sources, reclaimed water and geothermal energy to support the company’s sustainability roadmap, reducing Airbus’ environmental footprint.

Inaugurated in 2008, the Airbus Tianjin FAL was the first Airbus production line for commercial aircraft outside Europe. It has assembled and delivered more than 780 A320 Family aircraft since then, making the facility a symbol of successful Sino-European cooperation. 

Source | AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings

AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings (Amsterdam, Netherlands) is launching its  AS7489-certified training program, created to advance the adoption of the globally recognized standard in aerospace coatings application and raise professional standards.

Developed as part of AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings’ Aerofleet Training+ offering, the program is fully compliant with SAE International’s AS7489 standard, a globally recognized framework for the training and qualification of Aerospace Organic Coatings Applicators.

While certifications have long existed for mechanical, structural and safety disciplines, there was no universal benchmark for coatings. AkzoNobel’s program directly addresses this gap by improving access to professional training for the global aerospace industry.

AkzoNobel’s AS7489 training is structured across five progressive levels, in accordance with the AS7489 technical standard and approved for delivery by SAE International. The courses go from theoretical fundamentals (Level 1) to advanced, practical assessments (Levels 2, 3 and 4) that test hands-on skills and understanding, to Level 5 which provides in-depth specialization for expert applicators.

AkzoNobel’s training center in Troy, Michigan, has been approved and AkzoNobel’s first cohort of Technical Service Representatives have been certified to deliver AS7489-certified training to customers. The company plans to establish and certify additional training centers and Technical Service teams to support the future rollout of AS7489 training across Europe.

“For years, we’ve helped applicators understand and use our coatings effectively, and we will continue to do so, but the introduction of the AS7489 program takes our customer training to a step further,” says Michael Green, business services manager at AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings. “We’re enabling professionals to achieve globally recognized credentials that raise the bar for skill, safety and quality across the industry, and we’re supporting our customers in the MRO and aftermarket. With visible, tangible proof of staff competence and professionalism, our customers will be able to demonstrate both compliance and a high level of service quality, helping them to stand out in an increasingly competitive market.”

Supporting the rollout of the new program is AkzoNobel’s bespoke online training and certification platform, which gives applicators, assessors and employers full visibility of training progress and qualification status.

Through the online training platform, participants can submit their work, track their learning journey and store digital records of their certifications. Independent assessors will use the system to review and grade submissions, ensuring objective evaluation against the AS7489 standard. Employers will be able to monitor employee progress, identify development needs and, when recruiting, verify the credentials of candidates.

Source | Aura Aero

Aircraft manufacturer Aura Aero (Toulouse, France) has cut the ribbon on an 11,000 square-foot facility at Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University’s Research Park in Daytona, Florida, which will serve as its U.S. headquarters and first production site. The campus will host the North American Delivery and Customer Support Center for the company’s Integral aircraft program and lay the groundwork for the its hybrid-electric ERA aircraft.

Integral wood-composite trainer

The initial production line will build the Integral family of two-seater, aerobatic-capable training aircraft, which features a hybrid wood and carbon fiber-reinforced composite construction. Since 2017, Air Menuiserie (Saint-Vincent-Du-Boulay, France) has been a key partner in the development and construction of the Integral aircraft, and is applying its decades of wood-carbon composites expertise to the model’s performance and safety. Integral will be offered first with a Lycoming piston engine and subsequently in a 100% electric version.

The U.S. is a major market for Integral, being the largest training market in the world, with nearly 600 FAA-approved flight schools, more than 75,000 pilots and a growing demand for modern, cost-effective training aircraft with aerobatic capabilities.

Recently certified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and with FAA certification underway, the Integral family offers an advanced, efficient solution for both traditional and electric flight training, making it a strong contender in the U.S. market.

Electric Regional Aircraft (ERA) in 2028

In 2028, Aura Aero plans to open a 500,000 square-foot assembly line for its 19-seater ERA aircraft and intends to be the world’s first hybrid-electric regional aircraft manufacturer, operating assembly lines in France and the U.S. The aircraft was conceived to use a metal fuselage and carbon fiber composite wing.

The United States has emerged as also one of the strongest markets for ERA, now accounting for more than one-third of the orders worldwide. The company expects U.S. volumes to approach half of its global total as additional commitments are finalized. Current orders and letters of intent (LOI) exceed 650 ERA aircraft, totaling more than $10.5 billion.

Florida’s site follows a partnership signed 2 years ago with Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University. Space Florida, the state’s aerospace economic development agency, played a key role in supporting the project, which is expected to create more than 1,000 high-skilled jobs in the region.

The Emirates Lounge, which continues to be part of ACS UK’s product portfolio. Source | Emirates for ACS UK

On Nov. 3, AVIC Cabin Systems Ltd. (ACS, London, U.K.) announced that its order book is open and that it is offering its full range of products, from social spaces and galleys to front row monuments, feature panels and stowages (read “AVIC... announces global sales organization”).

Source | ACS UK

ACS UK is a full-service manufacturing company, excelling in the manufacture of complex composite exterior and interior components, moldings, sandwich, flat panels and laminates, for a multitude of industries such as aerospace, rail, marine and automotive, and their varied and specific applications.

With a full order book in June 2022, ACS UK took a strategic decision at that time to reduce its offerings to new business in order to focus upon the delivery of the programs acquired from AIM Altitude Ltd. With these products successfully delivered and customer confidence fully maintained, ACS UK is now open and ready for new business.

“We have been quietly but busily working in the background to safeguard future product offerings, and several key programs are already underway,” says Nigel McSorely, CEO of ACS UK. “Our ethos and focus on customer satisfaction and the delivery of high-quality equipment using highly skilled people continues. We have seen exceptional on-time delivery performance of products to Airbus and Boeing over the past few years. We are very proud of this achievement.”

ACS UK has been working on large orders of front row monuments, galleys and social zones for pre-existing customers. Now that many of these have been delivered, ACS UK is able to offer vital and additional capacity to the market.

“The advantage ACS UK has is that we are new but not new,” McSorely says. “We have the facilities and capacity of a new company, with the experience and expertise of an industry stalwart. ACS UK has a great depth of knowledge and skill but also the ability to grow and take on significant new contracts.”

ACS UK has been achieving this success from its new engineering facility in Bournemouth, U.K., and through its design base in New Zealand, and manufacturing bases in Cambridge, U.K. and China.

Front row monuments, feature panels and bespoke social areas are particular specialties of ACS UK. The company is well known for its innovative design, meticulous engineering and specialist manufacturing processes, bringing vital differentiation to its airline customers.

Source | BlueShift

Blueshift (Spencer, Mass., U.S.) introduces AeroZero flame and thermal barriers (FTBs), a portfolio of ultra-thin, lightweight and flexible flame and thermal material solutions that can withstand exposure up to 1200°C for 30 minutes. The company’s family of thermal protection systems (TPS) can be “can be applied to various surfaces, including carbon fiber composites,” according to the company. AeroZero FTB in particular is especially applicable for composite applications in the aerospace and defense industries, including eVTOLS.

With the continuing global adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and aerospace electrification, Blueshift’s latest addition to its AeroZero family is ideal for a wide range of applications and industries that may experience extreme temperature fluctuations — from EVs and aerospace markets to marine and rail.

For example, within the field of EVs, FTBs are primarily used as a safety barrier material aimed at preventing the transfer of extreme heat or fire that can result in mechanical damage of battery cells and exposure to high temperatures or discharge events. Blueshift’s AeroZero FTBs can withstand exposure up to 1200°C for 30 minutes while maintaining a cold-side temperature below 300°C. This means they may either be used as safety features in preventing uncontrolled fire, for example, due to an aircraft engine fire, or protecting surfaces from direct exposure to flame such as during a rocket takeoff or helping to mitigate the risk of a battery thermal runaway event.

Outperforming traditional mica, silica or polyurethane foams, AeroZero FTBs are up to 80% lighter, with a thickness range of 0.32-1.77 mm — significantly thinner than conventional barriers (3-10 mm). Alongside this, their ease-of-use and flexibility is a key factor in their application; with their “peel-and-stick” pressure sensitive adhesives (PSA) backing that simplifies installation on irregular surfaces, labor time and cost can be reduced.

“Traditional thermal insulators have often been based on polymeric foams or ceramic blankets that can suffer from drawbacks due to their added weight, thickness, toxic off-gassing, lack of flexibility and processing issues,” says Tim Burbey, Blueshift president. “Available across multiple ranges, we look to incorporate as many vehicles and industries as possible, so everyone can overcome their unique thermal challenges.”

The AeroZero FTBs family includes, AZ-FTB 100 for up to 500°C applications; AZ-FTB 101 for up to 800°C; and AZ-FTB 300 for maximum protection up to 1200°C. These advanced FTBs are ideal for protection in EV battery modules, and aerospace components that see indirect and direct exposure to flames.

A rendering of Boeing’s second 787 final assembly building when complete. Source | Boeing

In early November 2025, Boeing (Arlington, Va., U.S.) marked the groundbreaking of its Boeing South Carolina (BSC) site expansion. Home of the 787 Dreamliner program, BSC is set to increase production to a rate of 10 airplanes/month in 2026. The expansion will enable the site to support higher 787 production rates given strong market demand.

In late 2024, Boeing announced plans to expand and upgrade its site near Charleston International Airport and a second campus. The company is investing more than $1 billion in this infrastructure program and plans to create more than 1,000 new jobs over the next 5 years. The expansion will include:

• A new final assembly building similar in size to the current final assembly building, which is roughly 1.2 million square feet. It will include airplane production positions, production support and office space.
• A parts preparation area facility, a vertical fin paint facility, Flight Line stalls and more at the airport campus.
• Additions to the Interiors Responsibility Center, where many of the 787’s interior components are made.

Ninety customers from around the world have placed more than 2,250 orders for the 787 Dreamliner family. After more than 1,200 deliveries, the 787 backlog stands at nearly 1,000 airplanes, including more than 300 orders added just in 2025. In all, the commercial aviation industry is expected to need more than 7,800 new widebody airplanes over the next two decades, according to Boeing’s Commercial Market Outlook.

“We continue to see strong demand for the 787 Dreamliner family and its efficiency and versatility. We are making this significant investment to ensure Boeing is ready to meet its customer’s needs in the years and decades ahead,” says Stephanie Pope, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

For more than a decade, BSC has been the home of the full 787 Dreamliner production cycle. Teammates fabricate, assemble and deliver the three Dreamliner models — 787-8, 787-9 and 787-10 — to customers globally. The company established operations in South Carolina in 2009 and currently employs more than 8,200 people across its campuses in North Charleston and in Orangeburg.

Myriam Yagoubi discusses carbon fiber supply and demand at Carbon Fiber 2025. Source (All Images) | CW

CompositesWorld hosted Carbon Fiber 2025 in early November in Wichita, Kansas, bringing together industry leaders, innovators and experts to discuss critical trends in the global carbon fiber market, supply and demand dynamics, market forecasts, and material and processing advancements.

The event opened with a compelling keynote on global carbon fiber supply and demand by Myriam Yagoubi, manager at Future Materials Group (FMG). Yagoubi highlighted the remarkable growth of the carbon fiber market over the past two decades, which has spurred new entrants and increased average production capacity from 4 to 10 kilotons per player. As of 2024, Toray remains the market leader, though Chinese suppliers now account for nearly 50% of global reported capacity, signaling a significant shift in the industry landscape. This overview set the tone for in-depth discussions on key markets, particularly aerospace and wind energy, which continue to dominate carbon fiber demand.

Collin Heller, vice president, Counterpoint Market Intelligence.

Carbon Fiber 2025 also underscored Wichita’s significance as a hub for aerospace and composites innovation with several presentations focusing on high-rate composites manufacturing solutions targeting aerospace and advanced air mobility (AAM) applications. Collin Heller of Counterpoint Market Intelligence provided a sobering outlook on the Tier 1 aerostructures sector, which is still grappling with post-pandemic recovery and production challenges. While next-generation single-aisle (NGSA) aircraft programs from Boeing and Airbus hold immense potential for composite manufacturers, Heller noted that significant announcements are unlikely before 2029. Boeing continues to face hurdles from the 737 Max crisis and COVID-related disruptions, while Airbus continues to find itself in a comfortable competitive position. Heller noted that Airbus’ leadership position has given the company time to explore innovative open rotor engine designs, which could factor heavily into its NGSA program plans. All told, in-service dates for these programs will likely be pushed to the late 2030s or early 2040s.

Further, Heller expressed concerns that the outsourcing of aerostructure manufacturing has peaked. Faced with persistently lower profit margins, Tier suppliers are likely to be subject to consolidation in the next few years, said Heller. It is also likely that OEMs will move an increasing amount of aerostructures work in-house. Existing players are likely to focus on specialization, vertical integration, automation and lower costs.

Meanwhile, AAM initiatives — including consumer UAVs and eVTOLs — represent an area of R&D within aerospace that many in the industry hope could pave the way for new process innovations for aerostructures. A lively panel discussion moderated by NIAR ATLAS’ Waruna Seneviratne delved into AAM’s progress and its broader implications for aerospace. The ultimate conclusion of the panelists signaled that AAM is not expected to significantly impact the industry before at least 2030.

Renewable energy consultant Shashi Barla delivers wind energy keynote at Carbon Fiber 2025.

Wind energy, despite a dip in U.S. demand caused by the Trump administration’s policy shifts favoring fossil fuels, remains robust globally. Yagoubi noted that while global wind installation demand was flat between 2023 and 2024, long-term forecasts predict strong growth driven by government renewable energy targets and wind’s competitive levelized cost of energy. This outlook was reinforced by presentations from wind energy consultant Shashi Barla and Julien Sellier of STRUCTeam. Barla projected that wind industry demand will more than double from 115 gigawatts (GW) in 2024 to 250-260 GW by 2035, with carbon fiber adoption in wind blades rising from under 40,000 tons in 2023-2024 to over 150,000 tons annually within a decade, driven largely by the expansion of offshore wind. Notably, global offshore wind is expected to grow fivefold in the same period.

The presenters painted a picture of global disparity in wind energy development, with China leading the charge. “The dominance of China in wind cannot be downplayed,” Barla emphasized, a sentiment echoed by Sellier, who added that the Chinese wind market is pushing the boundary. While Western markets have historically led in turbine ratings and rotor sizes, China is rapidly adopting carbon fiber spar caps in blades for offshore applications and is poised to do the same onshore. Chinese OEMs are targeting wind turbine generator heights of 200-240 meters, surpassing the 170-175 meters typical of Western OEMs. Similarly, China accounted for 60% of the 2024-2025 wind installation orders, compared to just 4% for the U.S., underscoring the widening gap.

Mike Favaloro offers an update on carbon fiber use in the global hydrogen industry. 

The conference also addressed the role of carbon fiber in emerging clean energy solutions, with Textron Inc.’s Mike Favaloro presenting insights on the global hydrogen (H₂) industry. Favaloro was a co-author with CW’s Jeff Sloan, Ginger Gardiner and contributor Karen Mason on a report that evaluates carbon fiber use in hydrogen storage. Favaloro described a clean H₂ sector expanding rapidly in the EU and China but lagging in the U.S. He highlighted its potential to reduce CO₂ emissions by 80 gigatons by 2050, yet warned that the U.S. risks falling behind if current policies persist.

Deepak Agrawal, head of research and consulting, Stratview Market Research.

The conference also explored emerging markets like India. Deepak Agrawal of Stratview Market Research shared that the country represents 5.6% of total carbon fiber demand in 2025. Having grown 1.5 times in the past 6 years, India’s market is projected to expand at 2.2 times the global average by 2030, positioning it as a key player in the composites sector. Reliance Industries, for example, is building a 4,000-kiloton carbon fiber plant in the country. India is also expected to double wind energy installations in the next three years. In addition, compressed natural gas demand has grown in India eight-fold in the past 4 years. In all, wind energy and pressure vessels represent 72% of the total net increase of carbon fiber demand over the next 5 years.

The dominance of wind and the importance of emerging opportunities in H₂ energy should not be understated. There is a growing demand for electricity globally, driven increasingly by data centers, connectivity and the use of AI, and wind energy has proven to be reliable and inexpensive, which the rest of the world recognizes. In this market, however, the U.S. is falling behind, driven by anti-renewables policies.

Carbon Fiber 2025 brought the challenges facing the carbon fiber industry to the forefront, reinforcing its critical role in shaping a sustainable, high-performance future, while highlighting the urgent need for global collaboration and innovation to keep pace with rapidly evolving demands.

Source | CFM International

CFM International (Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.) continues to make progress rolling out maturity improvements to CFM LEAP-1A engines for Airbus A320neo family aircraft. Likewise, the company continues progress toward introducing similar systems in 2026 for the CFM LEAP-1B engines that power Boeing 737 Max aircraft.  

For LEAP-1A engines, CFM has produced more than 1,200 high-pressure turbine (HPT) durability kits in less than a year since certification in December 2024. This includes new production engines and durability kits delivered to overhaul shops. CFM and its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) partners and operators have also installed the reverse bleed system (RBS) on nearly 50% of LEAP-1A engines in service.  

For LEAP-1B engines, CFM expects the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to grant engine-level, part 33 certification for the RBS shortly. CFM is working closely with Boeing to introduce the RBS and HPT durability kit to 737 Max operators in 2026.  

With more than 4,000 aircraft delivered to date, CFM LEAP engines have experienced “the fastest ramp in commercial aviation history.” Advanced technologies like composite fan blades and ceramic matrix composites (CMC) deliver an engine that’s 15% more fuel efficient, with 15% lower carbon emissions than prior-generation CFM56 engines. Backed by advanced health monitoring systems and an open MRO ecosystem, CFM LEAP engines offer mature reliability and enable high asset utilization for narrowbody aircraft.  

“The LEAP engine family is maturing much faster than its predecessor,” says Gaël Méheust, president and CEO of CFM International. “With these updates, we are now refining the hardware to deliver more durability while reducing the maintenance burden for A320neo family operators. As a result, they benefit not only from the efficiency, reliability and utilization LEAP engines deliver, but also from more predictable operations and longer time on wing.”  

CFM designed the HPT durability kit to increase time between shop visits, with the ability to more than double time on wing in severe environments. The improved hardware will help bring time between shop visits in line with its predecessor, the CFM56 engine, which has set industry standards for long time on wing. CFM is delivering all new and overhauled LEAP-1A engines with the kit, including engines going through both CFM and premier MRO shops.  

Similarly, CFM designed the RBS to reduce the need for on-wing fuel nozzle replacements and bring maintenance needs in line with CFM56 standards. The company is shipping RBS kits to all CFM shops, approved third-party providers and operators that have completed the required training at one of CFM’s four technical education centers in the U.S., France, India and China.  

Hill Helicopter’s HX50 features a carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) monolage construction with integrated lightning strike protection (LSP) and aerodynamic fairing. Source (All Images) | Hill Helicopters

“The private helicopter industry has been stagnant for decades,” says Dr. Jason Hill, aeronautical engineer and founder of Hill Helicopters (Stafford, U.K.). “Brand new helicopters rely on very outdated technology, albeit with updates in avionics. You wouldn’t drive a car from the 1960s, but private helicopter customers are having to deal with technology from that era.” In response, he launched Hill Helicopters in 2020 with the goal of revolutionizing general aviation with the company’s maiden product: the HX50 rotorcraft.

“The general aviation industry just wasn’t making the products people wanted anymore,” Hill explains. “It wasn’t that people no longer wanted a personal helicopter; they just wanted one that truly reflected an aircraft for the 21^st century that was also affordable. Thus, the HX50 was designed to be beautiful, fast, powerful, safe and simple to use.”

The HX50’s specs means it carves its own lane in the industry. It seats four passengers and one pilot, has a cruise speed of 140 knots (259 kilometers/hour), and a range of 700 nautical miles — enabling nonstop flights from London to Monaco, for example, or round trips from Los Angeles to Las Vegas — at a cost of £650,000 (~$747,000). Its payload capacity is 800 kilograms with a maximum takeoff weight of 1,650 kilograms. As such, it has an empty weight of just 850 kilograms. This is enabled by intelligent design and an entirely composite structure.

The HX50’s closest competition, the Robinson R66, costs over $1.1 million. The R66 does have a lower empty weight of 585 kilograms, but the HX50 offers a higher payload capacity than the R66’s 640 kilograms, a faster cruise speed compared to the R66’s ~110 knots and has double the operational range of the R66’s ~350 nautical miles.

“The HX50 isn’t about reinventing the wheel with untested concepts,” Hill says. “It’s a ‘greatest hits’ compilation, integrating proven technologies and design principles into a superbly packaged and industrialized product fit for what we call ‘General Aviation 2.0.’”

Early placement of foam cores in the one-shot resin infusion mold.

The HX50 follows a deliberate certification strategy. Initial aircraft operate under UK CAA Permit to Fly regulations for the experimental amateur-built category with factory assistance. “The Permit to Fly route lets us get aircraft to customers faster while we complete full type certification,” explains Hill. Simultaneously, Hill Helicopters is pursuing full type certification for the HC50 variant under EASA CS-27 standards. “Everything we’re designing and manufacturing targets CS-27 compliance,” Hill adds. “We’re not taking shortcuts — the Permit aircraft are built to the same standards as the certified version will be.”

Early version of the HX50 monolage during one-shot infusion.

The goal was to create an enclosed single-shot cured structure — a challenge that stretched the boundaries of traditional resin infusion applications, which typically consist of simpler geometries like marine hulls, where autoclave processing is impractical due to size limitations.

This phase started with exploring a quarter-scale airframe model as a demonstrator. It was successful, effectively validating the core principles of the infusion technique. However, challenges arose during the transition to a full-scale monolage with increasingly complex cored architectures. “Two critical issues became apparent,” highlights Ridgway. “First, achieving uniform fiber wet-out across large surface areas proved challenging, leading to regions of insufficient resin saturation that jeopardized structural integrity. Second, as the complexity of components increased, maintaining high surface finish quality on external plies became progressively more difficult.”

From a program standpoint, resin infusion had serious limitations, unable to support the high-volume manufacturing necessary to fulfill Hill’s vision for the HX50 program’s four helicopters a day. “The full-scale mold tools would only allow one or two laminators to operate inside the mold at a time, often interfering with each other in the constrained space,” says Ridgway.

An additional complication arose with excessive resin consumption during the laminate infusion process. “Excess resin was being drawn through to eliminate porosity and air entrainment, resulting in a considerable amount of unusable, mixed resin at the end of the process,” explains Ridgway. “This inefficiency, alongside constraints related to construction quality and rate prompted a shift toward prepreg — a change that significantly influenced subsequent development.”

In the current prepreg version, the foundational structural approach remains intact. However, the previously used single-shot fabrication within one enclosed mold has been replaced by a segmented strategy. This method involves dividing the monolage into two length-segmented clamshell sections, allowing for independent processing of each half before they are assembled for the final curing stage. “By leveraging clamshell mold designs, we have enabled the concurrent operation of multiple laminators on discrete components, significantly enhancing the throughput of the laminate processing,” Ridgway remarks. “While prepreg is indeed more expensive than the combined costs of dry fiber and resin, it enables far more precise ply positioning and edge definition.”

A splice joint is employed to connect the consolidated monolage half sections using traditional scarf joint geometries. Here, adjacent laminates are systematically stepped back at defined intervals for each ply to facilitate progressive load transfer across the interface. The laminate terminations at the splice joint are angled at ±45° relative to the interface ply orientations within the splice zone.

“This design choice aims to replicate the mechanical properties of continuous fiber regions across the splice interface,” Ridgway explains, “thereby minimizing structural discontinuities. Such an approach is crucial in reducing the potential for stress concentrations and ensuring reliability under operational loads.”

Composites manufacturing strategy

Plies being cut ahead of manufacturing.

The team opted for 380 gsm twill weave T700 prepreg with a 54% fiber volume for the primary laminate for the monolage sandwich panels. “It offers excellent drapeability at that volume fraction, essential for some of the structure’s intricate shapes,” highlights Ridgway. “By selecting T700 fiber over the more robust T800 fiber variants, we saved approximately 40% in material costs, resulting in only a marginal weight increase per helicopter and striking a balance between cost and performance.”

For the resin system, the team opted for a marine-grade, solvent-based formulation known for its low exothermic properties during cure. “This choice prevents internal stresses and warpage, ensuring adherence to stringent dimensional tolerances,” notes Ridgway. “The slow-curing nature of the resin also allows for prolonged out-life, facilitating multiple debulking operations to effectively manage void content and achieve dense, low-void laminates without high-pressure autoclaving.”

Additionally, the material type was selected around human factors, minimizing the need for operators to adapt to equipment limitations. The chosen resin system, for example, has a 60-day shelf life that eliminates the need for freezer storage during that time. “In full production, prepreg will go straight to the cutting table before layup without needing to be refrozen,” Ridgway explains. “This simplifies material management and reduces the need for staff to access freezers at inconvenient times to defrost materials to meet production targets.”

The monolage’s core materials are carefully distributed to optimize strength and weight while meeting manufacturing needs. The team uses Nomex honeycomb throughout the airframe to avoid galvanic corrosion and ensure consistent processing. High-density core is placed in critical areas, while lower-density core is used in less loaded regions. In areas with complex shapes, foam cores are employed.

Film adhesives bond the core materials to the CFRP skins for enhanced durability. Controlled temperature ramp rates during cure cycles effectively manage thermal expansion. Potting techniques reinforce core edges to prevent crush vulnerabilities, maintaining structural integrity.

The monolage sandwich panels are hand-laid, assisted by a laser-guided ply placement system from Aligned Vision (Chelmsford, Mass., U.S.) directing templates onto molds. Integrated vision systems ensure sub-millimeter accuracy in ply placement over the 3.5-meter-long monolage halves. The CAD system generates ply flat patterns and ply positioning codes from CAD data, adapting to design changes for rapid iteration. Intelligent nesting buffers cut plies, maximizing material efficiency and supporting flexible production configurations.

Lightning strike protection and surface system

Lightning strike protection (LSP) is built into the outer layer of the composite structure since it doesn’t have the natural Faraday cage effect found in metallic helicopters. The continuous conductive layer is bonded in a film applied over the sandwich panel base to ensure electrical bonding throughout the airframe.

The integrated lightning strike protection (LSP) layer is applied during layup providing electromagnetic compatibility while enabling single-stage topcoat finishing.

This design protects against lightning strikes while streamlining manufacturing. Traditional methods require multiple primer layers and sanding to address surface imperfections, but the integrated primer film eliminates these repetitive processes.

With this system, production airframes need just one topcoat over the pre-applied primer film, cutting finishing time by about 75% compared to conventional multistage priming. This method also enables better weight control since the primer film is applied during laminate consolidation instead of as a variable post-cure step.

“The finishing process uses a controlled three-layer sequence: integrated primer film, single topcoat and final lacquer,” says Ridgway. “This makes the total paint system weight predictable, avoiding variability based on surface quality issues. The resulting finish quality is what Hill describes as comparable to “Bentley paintwork.”

Out-of-autoclave manufacturing

The custom oven control system monitors six independent temperature zones with embedded thermocouples providing real-time data and automated vacuum failure detection across separate consolidation lines.

Hill uses an 8 × 4-meter oven with an in-house–designed control system to cure the HX50’s composite structures. It contains six independently controlled heating and vacuum zones, each monitored by calibrated thermocouples.

Data from these sensors is captured via a human-machine interface (HMI), ensuring temperature uniformity is maintained within ±5°C across the oven’s operational area. Air circulation is facilitated by strategically positioned fans and adjustable ducting, which effectively manage temperature gradients throughout the oven area. Additionally, all thermal and vacuum profiles are meticulously recorded for process verification and certification purposes.

“The control system effectively manages the complex structure curing,” says Ridgway. “The vacuum consolidation system maintains complete vacuum across the six independent lines with automated failure detection to ensure continuous pressure and fault tolerance.”

Hill Helicopter’s bespoke composites out-of-autoclave (OOA) curing facility.

Market validation and the path forward

The HX50’s initial production target has been set at four helicopters per working day, resulting in an annual output of roughly 1,000 units. However, this will not be achieved on a single assembly line. Hill anticipates a necessary expansion in both tooling and workforce to accommodate this rate.

This initial production rate reflects Hill Helicopters’ success. Originally targeting sales of 100 helicopters to recoup development costs, the company’s order book now totals more than 1,400. This sets new benchmarks for the private helicopter market, Hill says.

The HX50 program has also demonstrated that cost-effective oven processing can create aviation-grade structures, making composite materials more accessible in segments that were previously limited by autoclave requirements. “The company faced significant skepticism about its unconventional methods,” notes Hill. “But we’ve merged engineering expertise with innovative thinking to facilitate broader use of composite materials in this cost-sensitive market while ensuring safety and reliability.”

The company has also been willing to pivot on new information. “We’ve had to let go of some of our initial conceptions in order to achieve our combined rate and economic targets,” Ridgway concedes. “But we’ve also developed a scalable composites manufacturing methodology that transcends traditional autoclave-dependent aerospace production constraints.”

And Hill Helicopters’ vision to rethink general aviation doesn’t stop here. Once it has delivered on its promise for the HX50 and HC50 programs, the company has plans to develop a twin-engine rotorcraft and then use its GT50 engine for a new family of fixed-wing turboprop aircraft.

Hill Helicopter’s commitment to innovation extends even to components traditionally outsourced. It has developed its own multi-composite main rotor blades in-house using one-shot compression molding that achieves a 20,000-hour service life through precision dynamic tuning. This willingness to rethink every aspect of rotorcraft design, from fuselage to rotor system, underscores the company’s ethos of fundamental reimagining of what general aviation manufacturing can be.

HX50 rotor blade manufacturing insight

First rotor blade coming out of the mold in late October 2025.

Helicopter main rotor blades are subjected to demanding and exceptional aerodynamic conditions that necessitate advanced manufacturing techniques. In line with the rest of its HX50 design engineering, Hill Helicopters has put much consideration into optimizing the structural dynamic performance, and thus fabrication, of its composite rotor blades. “We have chosen a path of radical self-reliance, and are engineering from first principles in order to meet uncompromising performance and cost objectives,” says Jason Hill.

The structural design of the HX50 main rotor blades departs from traditional bonded assembly methods by using a one-shot compression molding technique executed with closed metal tooling systems. The composite construction features OOA prepreg carbon and glass fiber-reinforced polymer composites, strategically incorporating both biaxial and unidirectional materials.

The material selection enables independent tailoring of fiber orientation during the blade layup process, used for directional stiffness and mass distribution. The cross-sectional design includes a hollow spar architecture complemented by a foam-filled trailing edge. This enhances performance and reduces weight, achieving the necessary structural integrity while maintaining optimal mass characteristics essential for the high-inertia rotor system that supports the aircraft’s handling qualities.

The manufacturing infrastructure developed for serial production represented a significant capital investment in precision tooling and thermal management systems. And the culmination of this extensive development program was marked by the successful extraction of the first production blade from the manufacturing tooling in late October 2025. Hill explains this achievement goes beyond immediate component development.

“The breakthrough of these state-of-the-art composite main rotor blades represents a substantial milestone for the company, encapsulating years of design and process innovation,” he explains. “The successful implementation of a scalable, repeatable manufacturing process for these advanced composite structures positions the organization to deliver a next-generation helicopter tailored for the general aviation market, all at a competitive price point. Additionally, this achievement demonstrates that sophisticated composite aerospace structures can be economically produced in volumes that meet commercial market requirements.”

Rendering of HyTEM morphing composite wing design being tested on DLR’s PROTEUS unmanned vehicle. Source | DLR, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Lightweight Systems (Braunschweig, Germany) is preparing to flight test a morphing composite wing based on a novel trailing edge design developed in the Hyperelastic Trailing Edge Morphing (HyTEM) project.

The HyTEM concept enables gap-free and step-free movement of the wing edge, enabling the wing to change its shape without creating visible transitions – a major advantage for aerodynamics. It was developed as part of the interdisciplinary research project "Morphing Technologies & Artificial Intelligence Research Group" (morphAIR), which aims to demonstrate a novel wing concept designed to improve aircraft efficiency and control.

“Using 10 strategically placed actuators distributed across each wing half-span, we can achieve unprecedented shape adaptation and control of a fully composite wing structure,” says Martin Radestock, project manager at DLR. “Imagine a trailing edge that can be precisely controlled to optimize lift, drag and roll rates, all while the wing remains fully closed. Additionally, the adaptability of the design can enhance aircraft safety, as the control surface functionalities can be distributed across the entire wing to mitigate actuator malfunctions.” The video below demonstrates a sinusoidal deflection of a trailing edge segment, spanning 0.5 meters, with five distinct control positions.

Ground and flight tests

Both the conventional reference wing and the HyTEM morphing wing are made entirely of lightweight fiber-reinforced composites. DLR completed ground testing and initial flight tests on the reference wing earlier in 2025. “These flights provided valuable data for comparison and validated our baseline setup,” notes Radestock. Building on that momentum, the first morphing wing has now been fabricated, successfully integrated into the avionics of the unmanned test vehicle PROTEUS and all functionality tests have been completed, confirming the system’s integrity and the interaction of the morphing mechanisms with the flight control system.

Although morphing technologies have been studied in extensive ground and wind tunnel tests at the subsystem level over the last decade, important top-level measurements such as fuel consumption and changes in flight characteristics are missing and can only be determined through flight tests. In addition, the combination of artificial intelligence (AI)-based control with morphing technologies offers great potential for improvements in flight control and performance.

PROTEUS has now been equipped with both the conventional and morphing wing and the upcoming flight test campaign will test the HyTEM concept in real flight conditions at the DLR Test Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Nationales Erprobungszentrum für Unbemannte Luftfahrtsysteme) in Cochstedt, Germany.

“We look forward to sharing the results,” says Radestock, “and to pushing the boundaries of what wings can do.”

CFRP outer tank cap, part of composite dewar construction for cyrogenic liquid hydrogen storage. Source | © DLR. Alle Rechte vorbehalten

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute for Lightweight Systems (Braunschweig), together with INVENT GmbH (Braunschweig, Germany), has developed a 1.9-meter-diameter carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) cylindrical tank component for storing liquid hydrogen (LH₂) for zero-emission propulsion. DLR reports using LH₂ as an energy carrier for short-haul aircraft will become a reality by 2040. For this to succeed, lightweight tanks are needed that can be produced safely, easily and efficiently.

Source | © DLR. Alle Rechte vorbehalten

The 1.9-meter CFRP structure is the shorter of two segments comprising an outer tank for a dewar construction with vacuum between the inner and outer tanks, standard in cryogenic storage. It was reportedly made using materials and processes already approved for aviation, including DLR’s autoclave infusion process.

It was presented for the first time at the Hydrogen Technology World Expo 2025 (Oct. 20-22, Hamburg, Germany).

DLR Institute for Lightweight Systems develops and tests new system technologies based on lightweight materials, structures and functional integration for resource-efficient and climate-friendly structures in aerospace, transport and the energy and security sectors. As part of its work in the German-funded LUFO UpLift project, this first full-scale test structure was produced using DLR’s autoclave infusion process — considered an innovative approach for producing large-scale CFRP tanks.

Source | © DLR. Alle Rechte vorbehalten

The LH₂ tank must withstand cryogenic temperatures of -253°C, a pressure between 2 and 10 bar and must also provide lightweight yet robust leak-tight storage to meet the requirements of commercial aircraft. Aircraft with 100 seats and a 1,000-nautical mile range are the first target for such composite tank developments. The UpLift ground test facility enables testing of full-scale composite tank components and under realistic operational conditions for this segment of future short-haul aircraft.

This development, titled “Lightweight liquid hydrogen tanks for sustainable aviation,” is one of six finalists for the Lower Saxony Innovation Award 2025 in the Key Technologies category. Possible applications are said to include cryogenic space tanks — particularly in the upper stage for the Ariane launch vehicle — and as LH₂ or ammonia storage tanks in the maritime sector. The experience gained in the manufacture of large, thin-walled, low-pressure vessels could also be beneficial toward further advancing high-rate production of future aircraft fuselages and other large components such as pressure bulkheads or rudder shells.

WJ Kim, the CEO of DN Solutions, discussing the Heller acquisition at EMO 2025. Source: All images courtesy of DN Solutions

Key Takeaways

• DN Solutions’ pending acquisition of HELLER pairs DN’s 400-plus-model portfolio with HELLER’s 130-year record in German engineering.
• Reshoring investment is accelerating, creating demand for advanced machining, automation, and local technical support.
• North American expansion includes DN Solutions’ Chicago and Querétaro Technical Centers, along with HELLER’s Troy, Michigan operations.
• Vision 2032, DN’s long-term roadmap, emphasizes automation, digitalization and customer-driven productivity improvements.
• Continuity for HELLER users: DN says existing contracts, service capabilities, and operations will continue under DN ownership.

As U.S. manufacturers continue to invest in domestic production, DN Solutions is deepening its commitment to the North American market. With more than 300,000 machine installations worldwide and a broad CNC machine portfolio, the company is expanding its regional support network and preparing to welcome HELLER into the organization. In each case, the goal is straightforward and deliberate: to provide stronger local service, broader technology options and long-term support customers can count on.

The upcoming acquisition of HELLER is central to that expansion effort. The German builder has a 130-year reputation for precision and productive machining and a strong customer base in the United States, including manufacturing and service operations in Troy, Michigan. DN Solutions says it intends to keep that identity intact while adding scale, resources and additional technology options. The company’s new technical centers in Chicago and Querétaro, Mexico, are also designed to provide closer application support, training and testing capabilities across the region. These moves are guided by DN Solutions’ Vision 2032 roadmap, which focuses on technology leadership, digitalization and strong regional support networks.

In this exclusive interview, DN Solutions Global CEO WJ Kim discusses the state of U.S. manufacturing, the motivation behind the HELLER acquisition and what current HELLER customers in the U.S. can expect going forward.

Where U.S. Manufacturing Stands Today

MMS: What is your view on the current state of U.S. manufacturing?

WJ KIM: The U.S. was the global manufacturing powerhouse for decades. Industries like auto, aerospace, and metalworking flourished, and ‘Made in USA’ was the gold standard for quality and trust. While outsourcing certainly thinned the sector, it’s now clearly in an upswing. This is fueled by reshoring and massive capital investment. In this environment, machine tools are non-negotiable — they are the essential foundation that builds manufacturing competitiveness.

MMS: How do you assess the recent U.S. policy push for reshoring?

WJ KIM: This is much more than policy; it’s a fundamental structural shift driven by supply chain de-risking and the race for technological advantage. We’re seeing colossal investments targeting strategic sectors — semiconductors, batteries, and dual-use. Manufacturing is the most potent engine for restoring U.S. economic strength, and machine tools provide the platform for that recovery. With volatility in raw materials and logistics, the imperative to drive down operational costs — through energy efficiency, extended tool life, and streamlined maintenance — has never been greater.

MMS: Why are machine tools so crucial to the manufacturing renaissance?

WJ KIM: Processing capability is the absolute starting point for every industry. Semiconductors demand nanometer precision; aerospace needs to handle advanced composites and high-strength alloys; dual-use requires stable, reliable and high-volume production; and the EV/battery sector is hyper-focused on lightweighting and cost-efficiency. Without state-of-the-art machine tools and automation, the promise of reshoring will remain unfulfilled.

Faced with severe skilled labor shortages and relentless cost pressures, automation isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s the default operating mode. We’re focusing on maximizing unattended runtime and lowering unit labor costs at the customer’s production site by integrating robotics, pallet systems, and advanced software. Beyond that, an intuitive HMI, standardized workflows, and reliable remote support are essential. The next frontier is data-driven manufacturing AI — predictive maintenance, process optimization, and anomaly detection — which directly boosts yields and equipment OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness).

DN Solutions’ Global Vision and Investment

MMS: What preparations have you made under your Vision 2032?

WJ KIM: Since our founding in 1976, our cumulative global installations have exceeded 300,000 units. The last three years show our commitment: we’ve stabilized our German R&D center, broken ground on a factory in India, and opened our Chicago Tech Center. We’ve intentionally diversified our customer base beyond auto and semi, growing our presence in aerospace and dual-use. We’ve successfully transitioned from being just an equipment supplier to a true solution partner driving productivity breakthroughs.

MMS: Could you elaborate on your current investment status in the U.S. market?

WJ KIM: We opened the Chicago Tech Center in 2024 to directly support customer application testing and R&D. In August, we executed the Share Purchase Agreement for HELLER, which we anticipate closing early next year. To ensure robust support across North America, we’re opening the Querétaro Tech Center in Mexico on November 3rd and 4th. Our guiding principle is that “Local teams understand the local market best,” which is why our U.S. subsidiary is led by Daniel Medrea. We currently employ approximately 100 people in the U.S. Once the HELLER acquisition is finalized, we expect employment to scale up to several hundred, including the Troy facility.

MMS: What is your strategy for engaging with Key Accounts (large corporate customers)?

WJ KIM: Leading companies demand the highest level of solutions. Most of our U.S. Key Accounts are global industry pioneers. We operate under the philosophy of “proposing solutions before the requirement is even stated.” We deploy dedicated KA Teams to provide comprehensive solutions that integrate standardization, automation, and quality management. Post-acquisition, the addition of HELLER’s experience with complex turnkey projects and global customer service will enable us to improve our high service levels even more.

The new Querétaro Technical Center, shown here during its Grand Opening, provides DN Solutions customers in Mexico and Latin America with closer access to application testing, training and technical support.

The HELLER Acquisition and Integration

MMS: What is the significance of the HELLER acquisition?

WJ KIM: HELLER is a renowned brand with a 130-year legacy. Critically, they have production bases in Germany, the UK, Brazil, China, and, most importantly for this market, Troy, Michigan. This allows DN Solutions to significantly enhance our local production and service responsiveness here in the U.S. The fusion of HELLER’s deep tradition and our operational agility will create significant new value. HELLER’s proven expertise, service infrastructure, and established track record in automotive, aerospace, and dual-use will also be invaluable in accelerating our product and service evolution. Note: The HELLER acquisition is pending final regulatory approval and closing.

MMS: What is the strategic rationale behind the HELLER acquisition, especially for the North American market?

WJ KIM: Please understand that my comments are limited at this stage as the acquisition is still subject to regulatory approval. 

This acquisition rests on three pillars: Technology, Global Footprint, and Service.

Our strategy is straightforward — to combine DN Solutions’ scale, digital automation, and solution expertise with HELLER’s world-class 4 and 5 axis horizontal competence and technology knowledge to enhance customer productivity.

HELLER’s strengths in Siemens controls make it exceptionally well-suited for the high-mix, high-precision demands of the aerospace, semiconductor, and energy industries. Equally important, its U.S. Troy facility directly supports the reshoring movement driven by the CHIPS Act and IRA, reinforcing local manufacturing resilience across key markets.

Together, we will deliver a complete portfolio — from FMS cells to advanced 5-axis and mill-turn solutions — perfectly aligned with North America’s key priorities in reshoring, EV retooling, and aerospace recovery.

Ultimately, our goal is to address shared industry challenges such as the skilled labor shortage and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) optimization, empowering our customers to achieve greater efficiency and competitiveness.

MMS: What changes will HELLER customers in the U.S. see?

WJ KIM: There will be zero disruption after the acquisition has been approved. Existing contracts, warranties and service agreements will be honored. Customers can expect the same seamless experience. HELLER’s 130-year technical heritage and operational stability will be enhanced by combining with DN Solutions, ensuring long-term sustainability. Furthermore, customers will gain access to DN Solutions’ comprehensive portfolio of over 400 machine models, allowing us to address a much wider range of needs.

MMS: The HELLER brand is synonymous with German engineering heritage. How will DN Solutions preserve that identity?

WJ KIM: Simply put, HELLER remains HELLER. The 130-year legacy of precision and reliability is precisely why we pursued this acquisition. Our role is not to replace it, but to protect and propel that heritage forward. We have deep respect for HELLER’s engineering, design, and manufacturing capabilities. We will maintain the HELLER brand, identity, and DNA, while reinforcing the shared values that put technology, customers, and employees first. 

MMS: What is our direct message to HELLER’s customers in the United States?

WJ KIM: After the acquisition has been approved, your operations and support are expected to continue seamlessly. All existing contracts, warranties, and services will remain fully honored. You’ll continue to work with the same people, the same application teams, and the same service infrastructure. Under the full backing of DN Solutions, new contracts will also be fulfilled with the utmost care.

The combination of HELLER’s 130-year technical heritage and operational stability with DN Solutions’ global scale will further strengthen the brand’s sustainability. We are committed to ensuring that HELLER remains a symbol of precision, reliability, and partnership. We will spare no effort to secure the values that matter most to you: uptime stability, service excellence, and supply chain reliability in the evolving manufacturing landscape.

DN Solutions’ DVF 5000 5-axis machining center shown with the AWC (Auto Work Changer) automation system. This highly automated platform is designed for high-precision, simultaneous 5-axis work across aerospace, medical and general precision manufacturing applications.

Technology Leadership and Application Focus

MMS: What is the secret to your balanced performance across diverse industries (semiconductors, aerospace, energy)?

WJ KIM: Our success lies in our deep-dive understanding of each industry’s specific processes, allowing us to propose highly customized equipment and automation packages.

In semiconductors this year, for example, we launched a dedicated machine combined with robot-based loading/unloading automation for precision quartz ring processing. In high-value sectors like aerospace and medical, where lightweighting and component consolidation are key, additive manufacturing is increasingly relevant. We introduced our PBF (Powder Bed Fusion) additive machine, the ‘DLX Series,’ this year and are rapidly advancing our additive-subtractive hybrid technology. This combination of relentless application-specific engineering and platform standardization is the core of our balanced portfolio and our high level of customer satisfaction.

MMS: Focusing on immediate customer benefits, how will the combined product portfolio address North America’s current manufacturing challenges?

WJ KIM: Upon receiving regulatory approval and closing the acquisition, we will ensure that our customers immediately realize the benefits of the DN Solutions–HELLER synergy.

First and foremost, we will work together to address our customers’ key challenges — meeting stringent quality requirements, alleviating skilled labor shortages, and achieving ambitious utilization targets. Our expanded portfolio spans the full spectrum — from flexible manufacturing system (FMS) cells to advanced 5-axis and mill-turn solutions — capturing the strong momentum of the 2025 North American market, particularly in reshoring, EV retooling, and aerospace recovery. Ultimately, the integration of our two companies offers customers a broader and more powerful range of production solutions.

MMS: What is the role of the Querétaro Tech Center in Mexico?

WJ KIM: Querétaro is the strategic manufacturing center of the Bajío region and a key node in the North American auto and aerospace supply chain. Our 1,153 square meter Tech Center will feature our core machines — SMX/DNX (multitasking), DVF (5-axis), and RPS (automation) — to conduct real-world testing, technical seminars, and provide parts/service, maximizing customer value. Supply chain resilience is paramount, making localized sourcing, short lead times, and regional networks connecting the U.S., Mexico, and Latin America critical competitive advantages. After the acquisition closes, we plan to integrate the Querétaro Tech Center with HELLER’s Brazil facility to form a powerful support system across all of Latin America.

Source (All Images) | Sierra Space

Defense tech company Sierra Space’s (Louisville, Colo., U.S.) composites-intensive Dream Chaser spaceplane has successfully completed a series of critical pre-flight tests at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), marking continued progress toward the aircraft’s first free-flyer mission.

As part of its comprehensive testing campaign, Dream Chaser underwent electromagnetic interference and electromagnetic compatibility (EMI/EMC) testing at NASA’s Space Systems Processing Facility (SSPF). These tests verified the spacecraft’s ability to operate within expected electromagnetic environments throughout various missions.

The spacecraft also completed rigorous tow testing at KSC and Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility. For this phase, a Freightliner Cascadia truck, provided by Daimler Truck North America (Portland, Ore., U.S.), towed the spaceplane at high speeds to simulate critical dynamics and validate autonomous navigational parameters during runway landing operations.

Additionally, Dream Chaser successfully demonstrated the ability to receive telemetry and distribute commands between the spacecraft and Mission Control in Louisville, Colorado, over NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System network. This key milestone tested the spacecraft’s readiness for real-time command and control during flight operations.

The testing campaign concluded with a post-landing recovery rehearsal, which demonstrated the “safing” of vehicle systems and timely access to sensitive payloads.

Sierra Space expects Dream Chaser to move to its final round of acoustic testing in December 2025. Following this, modifications for national security applications will be explored and performed in Colorado. These enhancements will aim to expand Dream Chaser’s versatility and demonstrate its ability to fulfill a wide array of mission requirements.

Dream Chaser is on track for its first launch to low Earth orbit, targeted in Q4 of 2026, through a demonstration mission under the CRS-2 contract with a runway landing at Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Source | Fabrum

A team of New Zealand and Australian companies developing and deploying liquid hydrogen (LH₂) technologies to enable Australasia’s first hydrogen (H₂)-electric flights has made a significant step forward in the transition to zero-emission aviation. They successfully filled composite tanks with LH₂ produced and stored on-site for the first time at an international airport in preparation for pre-flight testing. This team includes:

• Fabrum (Christchurch, New Zealand), developer of zero-emission transition technologies, including composite LH₂ tanks.
• AMSL Aero (Sydney, Australia), developer of the Vertiia H₂-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
• Stralis Aircraft (Brisbane, Australia), developer of high-performance, low-operating-cost H₂-electric propulsion systems.

Fabrum designed and manufactured the advanced composite LH₂ tanks for the aircraft companies AMSL Aero and Stralis Aircraft. The refueling was successfully completed at Fabrum’s dedicated LH₂ test facility at Christchurch Airport, developed in partnership with the airport at its renewable energy precinct.

The companies are demonstrating that LH₂ fuel is a credible alternative for the aviation industry. The testing event highlighted several LH₂ technologies — including Fabrum’s triple-skin onboard tanks, featuring what is reported to be “groundbreaking” composites manufacturing techniques and the culmination of more than 20 years of R&D in cryogenics and composites. Fabrum’s LH₂ tank technology provides enhanced thermal insulation and fast refueling compared to conventional double-skin tank designs — delivering up to 70% faster refueling times and an 80% reduction in boil-off losses.

AMSL Aero will install these tanks on its Vertiia aircraft for long-range flights, enabling it to achieve optimal range, payload and speed. In addition, Stralis Aircraft’s lightweight H₂-electric propulsion system will be powered by LH₂ from Fabrum’s cryogenic tanks, which are mounted on the wings of Stralis’ fixed-wing test aircraft. Stralis expects its H₂-electric propulsion system will enable travel up to 10 times further than battery-electric alternatives and save 20-50% on operational costs compared to fossil fuel. Its first H₂ test flight is expected to take off in Australasia within 6 months.

“Our lightweight composite tanks, together with our H₂ liquefier and refueling systems, are critical enablers for H₂-powered flight,” explains Christopher Boyle, managing director of Fabrum. “By bringing all the elements together for the first time on-site at an international airport — producing, storing and dispensing LH₂ into composite aviation tanks as a fuel — we’re proving that LH₂ technologies for aircraft are now available, and that H₂-electric flight will soon be a reality in Australasia.”

Since its inception, Vertiia was designed to be powered by H₂ for long-range, cargo and passenger operations. “It must be as light as possible to achieve its 1,000-kilometer range, 500-kilogram payload and 300 kilometer/hour cruising speed,” Dr. Adriano Di Pietro, CEO of AMSL Aero, explains. “LH₂ is the lightest zero-emission method of storing energy for long-distance flight; no other technology currently comes close. We often get asked, ‘You are flying Vertiia and are developing an end-to-end H₂ system, but what else needs to happen to make Vertiia fly on LH₂?’ With Fabrum we have demonstrated the key steps in that process: from producing LH₂, to filling our ground transport container, then filling the tanks that we will install to our aircraft before our first LH₂ flights next year. This is a major milestone.”

"It’s fantastic to see more of Fabrum’s H₂ technologies unveiled and tested,” adds Bob Criner, CEO of Stralis Aircraft. “We are working with Fabrum to develop onboard tanks for our fixed-wing test aircraft to supply H₂ to our H₂-electric propulsion system. We’re excited to see Fabrum’s H₂ fuel dispensing systems for these onboard tanks proven out in testing. This is a vital step toward our first LH₂ test flights.”

These H₂ advancements stem from strong industry collaboration aimed at accelerating zero-emission aviation. Fabrum, AMSL Aero and Stralis Aircraft are members of the Hydrogen Flight Alliance in Australia, which is advancing the development of H₂-electric flight. AMSL Aero was recently awarded a grant from the Australian Government Department of Industry, Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) Program for a “Liquid Hydrogen Powered Aircraft for Regional and Remote Australia” project, with Fabrum among the collaborators. Stralis Aircraft and Fabrum have also received support from Ara Ake, New Zealand’s future energy center, to fast-track H₂ technology for Australasia’s LH₂-powered flight.

Highly qualified employees perform quality work at FACC. In the FACC Academy, the company focuses on comprehensive training and further education of the crew. Source | FACC/Gortana

In the first 9 months of the 2025 financial year, FACC (Ried im Innkreis, Austria) reports that it achieved revenue growth of 8.6%, reaching €697.6 million. Reported earnings (EBIT) amounted to €21.5 million in the reporting period (comparable period 2024: €21.8 million) and continue to be impacted by disruptions in international supply chains and material cost increases.

The aviation industry continued its long-standing and constant growth course of recent years in Q3 2025. Due to long-term contracts with all major manufacturers, FACC AG was able to benefit from this development in Q3 as well. The company’s achieved revenue is the highest in this period since FACC was founded (1989). The goal of the entire aviation industry is to continue on this growth course and to support the demand of airlines with a continuous ramp-up of production rates.

FACC’s cost-cutting and efficiency-enhancing program, which has been in place since autumn 2024, is showing initial success. In FACC Academy, which was established in 2024, more than 2,700 participants have taken part in a total of 257 courses and production training. As a result of these trainings, the number of employees at FACC was kept almost the same as in the same period of the previous year (+76 FTE), while increasing revenue.

Targeted implementation of the cost reduction and efficiency enhancement program continues to be the top priority of FACC’s management team, with a focus on further increasing efficiency in operations, compensating for global inflation effects and restructuring the supply chain to reduce the sharp rise in material costs, especially in Europe. In addition, despite increased revenue, there are first sustainable positive effects in the reduction of safety inventories and thus an improvement in cash flow, FACC AG reports.

Based on current customer forecasts, FACC management expects revenue for the 2025 financial year to be around €1 billion, which corresponds to a growth target of more than 10%. The operating result (EBIT) will continue to increase as planned and will be between 4-5% at group level (EBIT margin). The forecast for the financial year is based on the premise that there will be no change in the currently known global conditions.

Source | FIDAMC

Sustainability and production rate were the two main themes that emerged from the Aerospace International Thermoplastics Summit hosted by FIDAMC (Foundation for Research, Development and Application of Composite Materials) in Madrid, Spain on Oct. 30, 2025. The meeting also discussed planning by FIDAMC and its partners for the Thermoplastic Composites Development Centre being constructed in Cadiz, Spain.

The 1-day summit, conceived as a space for strategic and technical exchange, attracted more than 100 participants, mainly from Europe. It was opened by Ernesto González Durán, CEO of FIDAMC, who stressed that “we are living in times of profound transformation in the aviation sector.” This was followed by a keynote presentation from Ricardo Rojas, president of Commercial Aircraft at Airbus Spain, and six panel discussions on specific topics (see below).

Airbus Spain sees need for new TPC

Riojas highlighted the strength of the aeronautical sector and Spain’s key role in its growth. “Airbus anticipates the need for more than 43,000 aircraft in the next 20 years,” he said, “which will require increased production and addressing challenges in the supply chain, talent and innovation.” Riojas then highlighted the importance of investment in R&D, digitalization and new thermoplastic composite (TPC) materials. He also acknowledged FIDAMC’s role as a “bridge between research and industry” for developing the technologies that will shape the next decade.

Round table 1 – Aerospace strategy and funding

This panel included Juan Francisco Reyes (CDTI – Horizon Europe NCP), José Javier Martín Cañizares (regional government of Andalusia), Jaume Marcos (president of PAE) and Héctor Guerrero (Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities – PERTE Aerospace).

They agreed that aerospace is undergoing global expansion, driven by the need for technological sovereignty and sustainability. Spain is supporting technology developments through various initiatives:

• National: PERTE Aerospace’s investment of more than €2.8 billion and the future Alliance for Spanish Aerospace, aimed at strengthening public-private collaboration.
• Regional: Andalusia Aerospace Strategy’s investment of €574 million until 2027 and creation of the Net Zero Jerez Aeronautical Hub for sustainable aviation in Jerez.
• Europe: Clean Aviation and CESAR programs.

Round table 2 – Future challenges for OEMs

This panel discussed the main market drivers and included Susana Carballo (Airbus), Carlos Bello (Boeing) and José Francisco Beltrán París (ITP Aero). The speakers highlighted sustainability and production rate as the two main needs to support the large quantity of composites-intensive commercial that will be required. The OEMs saw that TPC addressed these needs through recyclability, and increased production rates, via stamping, in situ consolidation and welded assembly. Defense and space applications also had to consider cybersecurity and cost reduction in space systems.

Round table 3 – Challenges to industrialize thermoplastic composites

This was led by experts from Tier 1 fabricators: Enrique Sánchez (Aernnova Composites), Raúl Arranz (Aciturri) and Salvador Romero (GKN Fokker). They agreed that TPC offer advantages in repairability, recyclability and weight reduction, but still require investment in equipment and training to achieve the necessary production scale. Areas with high potential benefit, but which still need to be matured, include automated fiber placement (AFP), welding and variable-thickness parts.

The discussion highlighted the challenge that fabricators will only make investments to industrialize these technologies if OEMs make commitments to use TPC, but these commitments will only happen if production readiness is demonstrated. Collaboration between manufacturers, technology centers and OEMs is needed to accelerate industrial adoption.

Round table 4 – Innovation in equipment

The discussion included Iñigo Idareta (Mtorres), André Bertin (Coexpair Dynamics), Maarten Bach (KVE), Mael Farinas (Coriolis) and Marcus Kremers (Airborne), and was moderated by Félix Domínguez (FIDAMC) — all companies focused on providing solutions for high-rate, automated and consistent manufacture.

They agreed advances in automation, digitalization and in situ consolidation are transforming TPC parts production, but also stressed the need for more robust, modular and efficient equipment capable of matching the speeds of thermoset processes. Collaboration between equipment developers, OEMs and certification authorities is needed, as well as definition of process standards to enable more agile certification, including transition from approving specific parts to approving processes for more rapid adoption of the manufacturing methods.

Round table 5 – Innovation in materials

Nathalie Schmitz (Hexcel), Mark Bouwman (Toray) and Johannes Treiber (Syensqo) represented material suppliers and cited standardization as a key area, noting the industry will benefit from economies of scale as TPC use increases. They highlighted the potential for recyclability, improved durability and reduction of overall production costs, noting the role of technology centers as agents of knowledge transfer between research and industry. They also advocated greater harmonization of certifications and processes in Europe in order to accelerate industrial adoption.

Round table 6 – Global research ecosystem

The final session featured David Leach (Composite Material Solutions), Rens Pierik (TPRC) and Isabel Martín (FIDAMC), who agreed that collaborative development centers can provide benefits of sharing production scale equipment, reducing risk and enabling a wider range of organizations in the supply chain to participate. They also discussed the need to align European technology agendas and promote closer cooperation between centers of excellence to share infrastructure, data and methodologies. The next decade will be decisive for consolidating an international yet coordinated TPC ecosystem

TPC parts are reality, progress via community

In his concluding comments, FIDAMC CEO Durán said that TPC parts are no longer a promise, “they are a reality in motion,” emphasizing they are lighter, more efficient and more sustainable. The hub in Cadiz, he noted, will move TPC development from TRL 3 to 6, and will not duplicate efforts but rather complement existing capabilities in Europe and around the world. 

“Progress is not measured by the speed of technology, but by the strength of the community behind it,” he concluded, reiterating this is the best way to address the exponential change that can be achieved for TPC and future aviation.

The CASPR robotic demonstrator developed in the FANTOM project scans a composite wing box front spar from Airbus. Source (All Images) | IRT Jules Verne, FANTOM project

The complexity of composite structures for aircraft/aerospace is increasing, says Nicolas Colin, technical expert in nondestructive testing (NDT) for IRT Jules Verne (Bouguenais, France), an industrial collaborative research center with composites expertise. “Traditionally, NDT machines used in composites production operations are large, specialist machines that are not easily adaptable to complex geometries. Instead, they tend to be C-scan systems using ultrasound testing [UT] heads on gantry or dual robot systems with water squirters that require a significant concrete foundation, large footprint in the factory and a lot of water, up to 100 liters/minute.”

In 2019, IRT Jules Verne started exploring how to reduce cost and increase flexibility in composites NDT by applying automation. “Automation has existed,” notes Colin, “but using older technology. Airbus asked if we could develop an NDT system that is more flexible. So, we built a consortium with Airbus, its NDT company Testia, Tier 1 composite aerostructures supplier Daher, which is located next door to us, as well as the robotics integrator Axiome [Aizenay] and the CEA List, which has expertise in UT inspection and simulation.”

The resulting Flexible & Automated NDT PlatfOrm for Manufacturing (FANTOM) project ran from January 2022 to December 2024 and resulted in a prototype demonstrator that combines an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) and cobot with a Creaform (Lévis, Quebec, Canada) geometric scanner, visual inspection cameras and UT hardware and software to meet a variety of inspection requirements from Airbus and Daher using actual carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) parts.

FANTOM project roadmap

IRT Jules Verne is known for leading collaborative projects, says Aurélien Lunion, project leader for FANTOM at IRT Jules Verne. “We also have a lot of know-how in our five areas of expertise.” These include:

• Modeling & simulation
• Composite material processes
• Metallic material processes
• Robotics & cobotics
• Monitoring, inspection & process control.

“We used these multiple sets of expertise and multiple in-house teams,” says Lunion, “as well as our project partners in FANTOM to develop an automated robotic inspection demonstrator that could fulfill the requirements for CFRP structures that Daher and Airbus gave to us.”

The FANTOM project developed a robotic inspection demonstrator that was mobile and implemented three types of inspection: dimensional/geometric, visual and UT.

He explains that IRT sees inspection moving away from fixed stations for specific parts. These use thousands of liters of water and cost €1-5 million per system, depending on the size of structure to be inspected. Instead, the vision is to use more inline sensing to ensure quality and predict performance. Such systems would integrate different inspection methods into a simple platform that reduces manual operations, minimizes use of floor space and water usage and reduces cost versus traditional systems.

FANTOM demonstrated two CFRP use cases: An Airbus A350 wing box front spar (top) and a Daher complex beam with integrated stiffeners (bottom).

“During FANTOM, we demonstrated a mobile system that implemented geometric inspection using Creaform, visual inspection using cameras and UT scans using a low water usage spraying system for coupling with the part surface,” says Lunion. “We proved that we can use less manpower and achieve more inspection thanks to a smart way of performing the UT scanning, and we need much less space because the platform moves to the structure. We minimized water consumption by using only mist while significantly reducing the system cost — the prototype unit cost less than €1 million.”

This system was demonstrated on two CFRP use cases: An Airbus A350 wing box front spar measuring 6 × 2.4 meters × 10 millimeters with ply drop-offs and a falling edge, while Daher’s use case was a 2 × 0.4-meter × 10-millimeter beam with integrated stiffener, thickness variations and restricted access.

Prototype NDT system

FANTOM’s mobile robotic unit combines an AMR with a cobot and various end effectors (top) which checks part geometry, creates a correct surface, generates scan trajectories and completes visual and UT inspections (bottom). 

IRT Jules Verne worked with Axiome to design the robotic platform and then tested its mobility, says Colin. “Using an AMR and a cobot are not revolutionary concepts, but they enable assembling the NDT and robotic systems in a way that is fully integrated and can precisely localize inspection with the cobot end effector.” IRT Jules Verne has a patent pending on this system and inspection technique.

“We can localize inspection by combining position data from the AMR, cobot arm and the C-track on the Creaform system that registers where the end effector is with high precision,” Colin adds.

Creaform is a company that develops advanced metrology solutions. Its R-series products are made for mounting onto robots and cobots. The system used by IRT Jules Verne includes a MetraSCAN head mounted onto the cobot and a C-Track optical tracker. The C-Track has two infrared cameras that emit pulses of infrared light that illuminate reflector targets on the MetraSCAN head and the object being scanned. The cameras track these reflectors to determine their exact position in space, creating a precise 3D reference frame for localizing the inspection area. The MetraSCAN then uses blue laser triangulation to capture the object’s 3D surface data within the tracked volume, providing high-accuracy, real-time measurements that are immune to vibrations and environmental changes. This allows the C-Track to continuously track the position of the scanning system and the object, enabling the 3D scanner to capture accurate measurements even as the cobot arm and AMR move.

The CASPR mobile robotic unit uses a Creaform MetraSCAN head on the end of the cobot (yellow circle) and a C-Track unit projecting vertically (red) so that its twin cameras can illuminate and track the object being scanned and the cobot in 3D space. Reflectors being tracked (green) can be seen on the aluminum frame above and below the wing box spar being scanned.

Inspection process flow

3D data acquired using the Creaform system enabled a digital reconstruction of the as-built part versus CAD file (top), enabling generation of more accurate and optimized trajectories for cobot inspection (bottom).

As shown in the process flow diagram above, the Creaform system was used to complete the first three steps in the robotic NDT sequence:

• Acquisition of the actual geometry for the part being inspected
• Digital reconstruction of the surface
• Generation of trajectories for the cobot inspection.

This was key, notes Lunion, because it also enables optimization of the inspection trajectories. “Airbus has large parts which can bend due to their own weight,” he explains. “Paths generated from CAD files for these parts are not always accurate, which can cause a lack of coupling during the UT scan so that you don’t acquire NDT data in those locations.”

“We first needed to establish the correct geometry of the part to enable capturing all the necessary data during inspection,” Lunion continues. “So, we first perform a 3D scan of the part using Creaform and then generate the trajectory for the UT scan from that 3D data.”

CIVA software was used to model ultrasound wave propagation through the CFRP part and geometry, enabling development of an optimized phased array UT probe.

“Once we have the 3D mesh [obtained with the Creaform system software], we load it in our trajectory planner [in-house software] to generate trajectories for the UT scan,” says Colin. “We then perform the UT inspection.” The team used CIVA software developed by CEA List and distributed by Extende (Massy, France) to simulate the UT inspection, modeling the propagation of the UT waves through the part. “Traditionally, this physics-based modeling was successfully carried out for metals and CFRP applications, but with limited validity range due to the assumptions of the ray-tracing models,” he notes. “For this project, the CEA List used a specific version of CIVA that incorporated finite element methods [FEM]. This enabled us to develop and optimize a phased array probe design using focal laws that are adapted to the part material and geometry.”

UT inspection

UT inspection typically uses water to achieve coupling between the ultrasound waves and the inspected part. The water fills any air gaps and enables ultrasonic waves emitted from the transducer to travel into the composite part and back with minimal reflection and loss of energy. However, water is an issue, explains Colin, “because it can migrate into holes and unfinished edges, so the parts must be prepared with caps to prevent this, which consumes time and money.”

IRT Jules Verne sought to minimize water use and storage. Iterations of the UT phased array probe shown at right used small misters on either side of the phased array UT probe. “We used a membrane that can also include a kind of water pocket to supply water, a solution provided by the Imasonic company” says Colin.

“We needed only 1 liter of water to inspect one side of the Airbus wing box spar which had a surface area of 12-15 square meters,” he continues. “We typically use between 0.5 and 1 liter of water during a 2-hour inspection. This is acceptable to Airbus, especially compared to traditional UT systems with squirters which require at least 100 liters/minute, though in those systems, much of the water is recycled rather than lost.”

 

Phased array UT probes developed in FANTOM include two different versions shown here: rigid probe (top) and one with a conformable membrane (bottom). Both use misters on each side of the probe to enable coupling with minimal water.

“We used a rigid UT end effector, but we also developed a compliant end effector with springs on it so that the blue membrane with the water mist is always perpendicular to the surface,” notes Colin. “We would lose some signal especially at ply drop-offs, but we had no signal loss with the rigid end effector. However, for this, you must be very accurate in terms of the end effector orientation and trajectory. For example, even when the probe is rotated just ±1° off perpendicular, you lose 2 decibels of the UT signal.”

“During the project, the robotics team determined the right trajectory, and they were accurate enough to use the rigid end effector,” says Colin. “The Creaform system tracks where the UT array is and that’s how we follow the trajectories.” It also helped deal with the part’s geometrical complexities. “We could see the ply drop-offs, for example, and the robotic arm followed these, maintaining the probe orthogonal to the part surface. Inspection of edges are also an issue, which are usually done manually. In our setup, the design of the end effector, a rigid structure with a flexible membrane and a linear array, allows the probe to scan along the edges effectively. The membrane of the end effector is pressed partly on the part and partly over the surrounding space, allowing the probe to maintain contact and acquire ultrasonic signals even along complex boundaries.”

Visual inspection

In addition to 3D scan and UT end effectors, the CASPR demonstrator was developed to use a third type of end effector. “During commercial aircraft manufacturing and operation, 70% of inspection is visual,” says Colin. “Airbus and Daher aim to use automation to achieve significant cost reduction in these operations and are also interested in AI defect detection.”

To achieve this, FANTOM developed two different vision end effectors for visual inspection. The first was designed for scanning flat or gently curved surfaces, covering relatively large areas with adjustable lighting modules that can vary in intensity, wavelength and orientation. A smaller, more compact end effector was developed to access confined or complex geometries such as concave regions, internal radii and corners, enabling inspection of areas that are typically difficult to reach.

 

A camera box end effector was developed for visual inspection (top) and the system was taught using machine learning to identify scratches, dents, flaking and FOD (bottom).

“In addition to the 3D scan of the part, the visual inspection end effectors systems also provide information about scratches, bumps and dents in part surface,” says Lunion. “Airbus and Daher specified four types of defects that must be detected: scratch, dent, FOD and flaking. We took more than 100 examples of defects on structures from Airbus and used machine learning to teach the system to recognize and classify the defects.”

Mapping inspection data

Position data from the Creaform system (top left) was combined with UT and visual data to create the cartography or mapping of the data onto the part.

One of the key challenges in FANTOM, notes Lunion, was accurately linking the position of each inspection end effector with the NDT data it collected. “Precise position information is essential to generate reliable cartographies,” he adds.

FANTOM partner Testia led this work. Lunion explains that the Creaform data gave X, Y, Z (3D space) and A, B, C (rotation) of the tool center point (TCP) for both the visual and ultrasonic sensors. “They achieved a high-frequency, precise measurement of the TCP position. This data was then combined with the data collected by the UT and camera systems.”

 

NDT Kit software is used to visualize UT data (top) and was modified by Testia during FANTOM to accept multiple types of 3D NDT data. One current visualization is shown here (bottom) with UT data mapped onto the surface at left and visual defect data from camera scans for the same position at right.

For FANTOM, Testia built upon Airbus’ existing NDT Kit UT software, originally developed for postprocessing and visualization of ultrasonic data. “They extended the software so that visual inspection images can also be stored in the NK3 file format, which was previously used only for 3D ultrasonic data,” says Colin. “This allows 3D positional data, UT cartographies and visual inspection results to be combined within the same software environment, enabling operators to view and analyze all relevant inspection data in one place and streamline the postprocessing workflow.”

“Today, we can see all sets of data simultaneously,” he continues, “but they are separate.” The image at right shows the UT data on the left and visual inspection data on the right. “In the future, we aim to generate a single, fused cartography, where each point represents the probability of defects based on all inspection methods. This would integrate the raw cartographies from ultrasonic, visual and 3D inspection into one fused map. The separate data would still be available for more detail, but this type of cartography would enable the NDT operator to move quickly and focus only on high-probability areas.”

Future developments

Although the FANTOM project ended at the end of 2024, IRT Jules Verne is continuing to explore further developments. “We achieved the objective Airbus and DAHER set for us: developing a mobile automated NDT prototype capable of performing the most common inspections on CFRP structures with reduced factory space, foundation requirements, cost and manual labor,” says Colin. “The system is still a prototype and requires further development to fully meet the needs of industrial partners. Current work focuses on improving the robotized inspection end effectors for all types of NDT methods, making the system easier to operate for non-robotics specialists, and leveraging its modular design so partners can select only the technological components they want to integrate into their own factories.”

FANTOM envisions further development in NDT data visualization, including use of augmented reality to project defect data onto scanned structures.

“We also see a possibility to improve defect visualization through augmented reality [AR],” he continues. He notes that CAD/CAM and digital twin software provider Dassault Systèmes (Vélizy-Villacoublay, France) acquired the company Diota (Paris, France) in 2022. Dassault Systèmes is integrating Diota’s solutions into its software to enhance the use of digitized processes and digital mock-ups for manufacturing by connecting virtual twins with real-world data in the field. “This illustrates our vision: The UT and visual inspection data we collect, combined with positional information and stored in .NKD files, can be projected onto a structure via AR. When moving an AR tablet or goggles, operators can instantly locate defects and their associated metadata, focusing on areas that require further inspection. This is particularly valuable for guiding them to perform targeted UT scans at precise defect locations, something that can be difficult when defects are only visible on conventional 2D maps, making the process more efficient.”

Fuel metering valves in commercial airplane engines need to be manufactured to extremely tight tolerances. These are made of 440C high-carbon stainless steel and installed between the hot and cold sections of an engine. Source (all photos): United Grinding North America

Pointe Precision in Plover, Wisconsin, doesn’t shy away from tough jobs. So when it came time to get the most out of a challenging commercial aerospace application including internal grinding tolerances of less than 2 microns, 100% postprocess inspection and three shifts of volume production, the contract machine shop tapped the expertise of United Grinding North America and Marposs.

In case you didn’t know, Plover is a town of 13,500 smack dab in the middle of the Dairy State. It might be the last place you’d expect to find a precision machining company certified to ISO 9001, AS9100, ITAR and NADCAP producing mission-critical, precision parts for some of the world’s most demanding customers and applications.

But this is what the team at Pointe Precision has been doing for the last 30 years. If you walk its floor and talk to its people, you’ll find that they seemingly get extra satisfaction from being underestimated and are extra motivated to go above and beyond.

When a large aerospace manufacturer was closing shop in nearby Stevens Point in the 1990s, Pointe Precision founder and now chairman of the board, Joe Kinsella, rallied support and was able to save 70 of the 400 jobs that were leaving the community. In fact, Dan Kinsella, Joe’s son and company COO, notes that 23 of those original employees are still with the company.

“Since the beginning, being forward-thinking has been one of our core values,” Dan says. The company actively invests in new technology, placing a high value on automating processes wherever possible.

This cell designed by United Grinding features a Studer S122 which grinds the valve ID and a FANUC robot which offloads the part to a Marposs gage for inspection. Pointe Precision now has two identical cells.

A Valve Application in Need of an Upgrade

To maintain the precise control of fuel flow rate and pressure in commercial airplane engines, fuel metering valves need to be manufactured to extremely tight tolerances. These are made of 440C high-carbon stainless steel and installed between the hot and cold sections of an engine. One engine can require as many as 17 of these valves.

Pointe Precision has been manufacturing these valves for more than 12 years, but the previous process was onerous. Parts were hand loaded into an ID grinder and manually inspected in an offline gage. If the part needed to be reworked, offsets were inputted back into the machine manually. Cycle times were long, and the operator couldn’t leave the machine.

The shop was using inspection equipment from Marposs, a company known for offering quality control and precision measurement solutions for production environments. Although it had grinding machines from United Grinding elsewhere in the facility, the fuel metering valves were being made on equipment from a different supplier. In addition to being trusted suppliers to Pointe Precision, Marposs and United Grinding have a deep historical partnership, including using each other’s equipment in their own manufacturing processes.

Cell operators such as Margaret Hirzy are now able to load part trays and walk away while the machine runs unattended for three shifts.

Pointe Precision approached United Grinding to design and build a new automated process for the valves, submitting part drawings and target cycle times. “Using United Grinding as project managers took the load off of us,” notes Tom Dickmann, vice president of quality at Pointe Precision. “Having one point of contact made everything easier. There was just one person to call; one person to handle all the issues.”

Automating the Process

United Grinding designed a cell in which a Studer S122 grinds the valve ID and a FANUC robot offloads the part to a Marposs gage for inspection. To consistently keep parts in tolerance, the machine automatically adjusts machine offsets based on the inspected dimensions from the Marposs gage.

Here is an overview of the part loading and inspection area outside the grinding machine. Between the two cells, fuel metering valves are being produced at volumes of approximately 13,500 per month with a total of four different designs.

The first cell was installed at Pointe Precision in 2022; a second, identical cell in early 2025. Operators are now able to load part trays and walk away while the machine runs unattended for three shifts. There are trained operators manning the first shift, but the cell runs virtually unmanned on shifts two and three.

Depending on the type of valve being made, the total cycle times have improved to between 2 and 5 minutes per part. One valve saw a 34% cycle time improvement, with total production time being reduced from 5 minutes 20 seconds down to 3 minutes 30 seconds per part. 

The cells utilize Marposs Multi Station gages to measure the ID of the valves. Making 18 different measurements in less than one minute, they measure the part from top to bottom, scanning the entire bore and showing the maximum deviations.

Engineered for Production Grinding Applications

Proven over the years in internal cylindrical grinding of small to medium-size workpieces in production environments, the Studer S122 was selected for this application. It features a compact machine footprint that can be configured with as many as three grinding spindles and comes standard with United Grinding’s intuitive Customer Oriented Revolution (C.O.R.E.) operating system.

The Studer S122 selected for the fuel metering valve application features a compact machine footprint that can be configured with as many as three grinding spindles.

Pointe Precision runs these fuel metering valves around the clock, and needed a machine such as the S122 that was designed to deliver precision over extended production runs. According to United Grinding, the machine’s Granitan bed and the StuderGuide system for the X- and Z-axes combine to deliver the damping, thermal stability and positioning accuracy that precision production applications demand.

“We love the flexibility and consistency of the Studer machines,” says Geoff Beebout, quality engineer at Pointe Precision. “United Grinding worked with us to get the machines online, and they do whatever they can to make sure that we are always running.”

Tight Tolerances, 100% Inspection

The fuel metering valves have extremely tight manufacturing tolerances: 0.000075 inch (less than 2 microns) deviation from minimum and maximum reading and 0.0001-inch (0.002 mm) cylindricity. Every valve is automatically inspected after grinding, ensuring that quality is met in production and enabling the cell to run lights out.

Studer S122 machines feature a Granitan bed and the StuderGuide system for the X and Z axes, which is said to combine to deliver the damping, thermal stability and positioning accuracy required by precision production applications.

The cells utilize Marposs Multi Station gages to measure the ID of the valves. Making 18 different measurements in less than one minute, they measure the part from top to bottom, scanning the entire bore and showing the maximum deviations. The gages use pneumatic measuring technology in combination with a Marposs digital air-to-electronic converter and an E9066T industrial PC said to ensure sub-micron performances even for the measurement of extremely small parts.

“The previous gaging process was a ten-minute routine, and now we get it done in less than a minute,” Beebout explains. “In addition to speed, the Marposs gages are delivering improved repeatability and reproducibility as well. We’re achieving single-digit gage R&Rs, where we were previously in double-digit values.”

And because grinding tool efficiency is key for process quality, Studer machines feature an acoustic sensing system from Marposs Dittel that listens for contact between the dresser and grinding wheels and monitors the dressing cycle. These sensors ensure the grinding wheel is always performing optimally and facilitate the precision automatic dressing of Pointe Precision’s costly CBN grinding wheels. The Marposs Dittel sensors improve part quality as well as deliver cost savings.

The Pointe Precision team approached United Grinding to design and build the new automated process for the fuel metering valves and appreciates that using the company as project managers took the load off of them. Left to right: Pointe Precision’s Geoff Beebout (quality engineer), Tom Dickman (vice president of quality) and Eric Trzebiatowski (vice president of engineering).

Cell(s) Success

Both cells are running around the clock. These mission-critical fuel metering valves are being produced at volumes of approximately 13,500 per month with a total of four different designs.

“For the last twelve months, there have been 100% on-time deliveries and a zero PPM defect rate,” Dickmann says.

Pointe Precision’s customer has noticed a difference as well. Even though the valves made using the previous process were within tolerance, the valves produced on the updated Studer and Marposs cells are performing better than before. “With one part number, we’ve seen a 75% reduction in customer fallout rate,” Beebout explains. “The new process produces parts with improved roundness and taper, which improves the customers’ ability to match grind due to improved part to part consistency.

“These cells have been a game changer for our business,” he says. “Not only have they helped us make our customers very happy, but they are going to allow us to grow and take on more of this business in the future.”

Source | Hycco

H3 Dynamics (Toulouse), a French manufacturer of hydrogen-electric
hybrid systems for aerospace and defense, and Hycco (Toulouse), designer of a new generation of ultra-thin composite materials used in hydrogen fuel cell stacks, have announced a strategic alliance.

Under this agreement, the two companies are preparing the creation of a joint venture that will combine know-how, equipment and expertise to produce the world’s highest-performance hydrogen fuel cell stacks, meeting the strictest regulatory and operational requirements of aerospace and defense — sectors that are cornerstones of European sovereignty.

For civil aviation, the electrification of flight paves the way for the sector’s concrete decarbonization. Hydrogen-electric hybrid systems enables long-range flights for a wide variety of 100% electric aircraft: light aviation, VTOLs, helicopters, business jets, seaplanes, airships and, at a later stage, commercial aircraft.

At the same time, European armed forces aim to conduct long-range drone missions (air, sea, land); electric propulsion significantly reduces thermal and acoustic signatures. Through the integration of hydrogen technologies, a generation of 100% electric drones — small, lightweight, low-cost, scalable and rapidly deployable — will be able to carry out missions spanning hundreds or even thousands of kilometers.

Through this alliance, the French ecosystem is bridging the gap between deep-tech innovations born in France and international application markets. Already, H3 Dynamics is initiating a broad movement that brings together leading players to design, improve and industrialize high-performance, certifiable aerospace equipment. The company is also developing downstream partnerships in light aerial, ground and maritime robotics.

ILA Berlin 2024. Source | Messe Berlin

From June 10-14, 2026, BER Airport will once again become the center of the international aerospace industry with the ILA Berlin trade show, bringing together players from industry, politics, research and the armed forces. Around 90% of the exhibition space has already been allocated, and super early bird tickets for trade visitors are now on sale in the ticket shop.

As a political industry platform, ILA Berlin unites the entire aerospace ecosystem. On several live stages, international experts discuss key future industry issues — from technological innovation and digital transformation to geopolitics and security to new markets and business models. Of particular note is the Static and Flying Display, where the public can experience civil and military aircraft on the ground and in the air.

In 2026, exhibitors will present their innovations in the halls, chalets and in outdoor areas. From low-emission flying and new propulsion systems to digital manufacturing processes, ILA Berlin 2026 will showcase the entire spectrum of aviation. Exhibitors — including Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV), the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE), Clean Aviation, Dassault, Deutsche Aircraft, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Diehl Aviation, Fraunhofer, GE Aerospace, Honeywell, Liebherr-Aerospace, Lufthansa Technik AG, MTU Aero Engines, Rolls-Royce, Saab, Safran, RTX and Vaeridion — will present latest developments and projects.

At the ILA Stage Aviation, experts will discuss the industry’s current challenges, such as the reduction of emissions and noise pollution, using sustainable fuels and hydrogen technologies, developing electric and hybrid drives and creating eVTOLs for urban mobility. They will also discuss additive manufacturing and lightweight construction, which significantly reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

ILA Berlin’s Space segment, highlighted through the Space Pavilion — organized by the BDLI together with its member companies, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the DLR — focuses on safety, sustainability and commercialization in space. At the ILA Stage Space in 2026, space industry players will present current missions and strategies, with a strong focus on economic competitiveness, security and defense, complemented by new players in the German and European space industry. Companies and organizations such as Airbus, ArianeGroup, CGI, DLR, Jena-Optronik, OHB, Astrofein and many more will demonstrate how space travel is transforming and enhancing our daily lives. During the event, ESA astronauts will discuss their experiences in space and on the International Space Station (ISS) with audiences of all ages.

The event’s Defense segment will focus on current and future technologies, projects and application fields including networked operations management, unmanned systems and AI-supported solutions. As a driver of innovation and a partner to industry, the German Armed Forces are the largest single exhibitor at the ILA. Exhibitors such as Airbus Defence and Space, Diehl Defence, Embraer, Elbit, Hensoldt, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, MBDA, Rafael, Raytheon, Rheinmetall, Rohde & Schwarz and Thales are also expected to attend.

The Military Support Center (MSC) with its adjoining Defence Park on the outdoor grounds offers a high-caliber stage program and serves as an international meeting place for industry and the armed forces. The MSC also showcases the close cooperation between German industry and the German Armed Forces in the areas of logistics and capability development.

During ILA Berlin 2026, the Supplier Hall offers additional access to the international supply industry. Buyers and trade visitors can reach business contacts from all over the world in just a few steps, initiate deals for tomorrow and find partners for new projects. B2B meeting appointments with exhibitors can be arranged in advance on the business platform.

Moreover, the ILA Talent Hub continues to grow. With a new concept and additional partners, it is aimed at school pupils, students, young professionals and career changers. At ILA Berlin, the fascination of aerospace is brought to life. Interested parties can meet recruiters and obtain valuable information and insights from trainees and young professionals. For the first time, more interested parties than ever before can participate for free and get in direct contact with employers in the industry. This strengthens ILA’s position as the premier talent and career platform for the aerospace industry.

Source (All Images) | Greene Tweed

As the aircraft industry continues to strive for increased efficiency and sustainability, every pound of weight removed reduces fuel consumption and corresponding emissions. Composites have made significant progress in replacing heavier metallic components in aircraft engines, but more is still possible. For example, Greene Tweed (Lansdale, Pa., U.S.) has demonstrated the potential for its Discontinuous Long Fiber (DLF) materials to cut weight in complex-shaped parts by an average of 35% versus aluminum in more than 500 aircraft part numbers. However, to enable its use at the front of turbofan engines, the high-velocity impact behavior of DLF needed to be characterized to understand the effect of different composite constituents, meso-structures and possible hybridization with continuous fiber materials. The ultimate goal was to develop a design methodology and solution for improved impact resistance in such applications.

Impact resistance for DLF fan platforms

DLF thermoplastic composite (TPC) materials have successfully replaced metals in complex-shaped aerospace components for years, using aerospace-approved carbon fiber/PEEK prepreg unidirectional (UD) tapes that are cut into flakes and compression molded. These materials provide good chemical resistance, stiffness, high temperature capability and creep resistance above the glass transition temperature, as well as enhanced design freedom with the ability to integrate multiple parts into a single structure. Greene Tweed has invested in the characterization of quasi-static mechanical properties, or allowables, to support a design by analysis approach, including high-temperature strength, fatigue and creep data. However, the high-velocity (>100 meters/second) impact behavior of these materials — which form a sub-category of fiber-reinforced TPC — had not yet been substantially studied.

Rendering of Greene Tweed's aeroengine fan platform demonstrator for impact testing, featuring an internal center rib (orange) and stiffening gussets on the sides (blue) to reduce the unsupported region of its aerodynamic surface that would be subjected to hailstone impacts.

At the front of turbofan engines, fan platforms are components that cover the engine’s hub between the fan blades and direct airflow toward the low-pressure compressor. These have long been a target for Greene Tweed, potentially saving north of 8 pounds per engine versus metal. The complex geometries of these components, however, make it challenging to use traditional continuous fiber materials like UD tape, braid and fabric, although solutions do exist that use complex layups and 3D braids via processes similar to resin transfer molding (RTM).

Greene Tweed's aeroengine fan platform demonstrator made from Xycomp Discontinuous Long Fiber (DLF) thermoplastic composite materials.

Greene Tweed has demonstrated an alternative via its Xycomp DLF compression molding compounds, with the ability to rapidly manufacture highly complex parts using an automated and repeatable near-net shape process. This matched-die molding can also produce the smooth aerodynamic surfaces required for parts with airflow surfaces, while the use of a thermoplastic matrix greatly enhances recyclability from raw material to final parts.

Although Xycomp DLF is well proven — with close to half a million parts (including structural brackets, enclosures, covers, vents, doors, etc.) currently flying on 12 types of commercial aircraft — use in parts sitting at the front of an engine that are prone to hail impact damage is more challenging for a discontinuous fiber material. A prototype fan platform made with Xycomp DLF has long been known to meet typical mechanical requirements such as strength at max overspeed as well as dynamic performance requirements — except for high-velocity hail impact, where experimental results on coupons had been disappointing.

Researchers at Greene Tweed’s R&D Center for Composites (Yverdon, Switzerland) took on the challenge to understand the underlying behavior of this material when impacted at high speeds. The team launched a significant impact testing campaign on representative coupons evaluating different prepreg tapes and their constituents as well as hybrids combining continuous and discontinuous fiber-reinforced composites. Continuous fiber-reinforced composites included laminates and fabrics, while Greene Tweed’s internal research on discontinuous materials led to the use of a patented new chopped tape flake shape internally dubbed “DLF 2.0” (versus Greene Tweed’s standard 0.5 × 0.5-inch flakes). This notably increased impact resistance, prompting the fabrication of a demonstrator component that experimentally withstood the impact of a 2-inch hailstone hitting the part at 200 meters/second in its most critical location without any damage.

Exploring failure in plates

Greene Tweed's hail impact testing jig for DLF materials in plates (top) and in a demonstrator platform for aeroengines (bottom).

To characterize the impact behavior of its Xycomp DLF materials, Greene Tweed followed a building block pyramid approach, first testing plate coupons and then progressing to shaped demonstrators. Impacts were achieved using spherical, clear ice hailstones sized 2 inches in diameter, shot from a self-built hail impact testing jig. The tests were filmed by a high-speed camera capturing 10,000 frames/second to study the visually observable damage mechanisms on 6 × 12-inch, 0.15-inch thick plates that were inclined at 30° over the horizontal plane and pinned on the longer edges.

These plates were manufactured using UD tapes with a nominal volume fraction of 60% AS4 and IM7 carbon fiber reinforcing PA6, PEEK, PEKK, LMPAEK and PEI matrices, then cut into flakes to form Xycomp DLF materials. Two different AS4/PEEK materials with statistically identical quasi-static properties were tested to compare the potential effect of tape architecture while the baseline PEEK was also tested using S2 glass fiber. In addition, the baseline carbon fiber/PEEK material was cut with a novel “2.0” flake shape, as this had previously been shown to increase tensile strength in both quasi-static and fatigue testing by more than 50%. Continuous fiber laminates were also tested, including quasi-isotropic tape layups and cross-ply fabric layups. Hybrid samples tested were manufactured with continuous fiber materials on the “front” (impact facing) side and DLF on the back, as this is where shape complexity could be added to the production design. Finally, the effect of DLF plate thickness was studied on the reference material system.

Results from impact testing 6 × 12 × 0.15-inch-thick plates show resistance to 2-inch hailstone impact as a function of speed for various DLF constituent combinations.

The observed damage mode on DLF plates was always initiated by a tensile crack at the back of the plate, propagating from the impact location toward the top of the plate. Standard DLF is known to be notably weaker in tension than in other loading conditions. A high-velocity impact creates a local plate bending stress state below the impact location which, when it exceeds the tensile strength of DLF, logically leads to sample failure. This could be clearly observed on videos taken from the back of the impacted plates, where a local “tearing” of the material under the impact side could be observed while no damage of any kind could be seen at the front. Later validated in computed tomography (CT) inspections, this means that the sample geometry itself is somewhat ill-suited to showcase the real-life capability of DLF, because a real component would include a local stiffener to reduce the tensile strain in these critical part locations.

Regarding the effect of plate thickness, it appeared that each additional millimeter could add about 40 meters/second of additional impact resistance under otherwise similar test conditions. Changing from AS4 to IM7 carbon fiber did not improve impact resistance. Neither did hybrid constructions with continuous fiber materials on the impact face, further validating the critical damage mechanism previously identified. However, changing from carbon fiber to the S2 glass fiber option did improve resistance, as did using polymers with less crystallinity or continuous fiber reinforcement materials on the rear face (in tension) of tested samples, with DLF on the front face, even though such a layup would be of limited practical use.

Resistance of 6 × 12 × 0.15-inch-thick DLF coupons to 2-inch hailstone impacts, showing significant improvement of “DLF 2.0” featuring a novel flake shape.

The most striking change was obtained by using the novel flake shape (“DLF 2.0”). This patented change in geometry was brought about to reduce possible stress concentrations at the end of the composite flakes, thus increasing the apparent toughness of the material. Without changing anything else, the DLF 2.0 samples were found to exceed the hail impact resistance of continuous fiber laminates, including results obtained on a quasi-isotropic laminate made from the same base material as the modified DLF.

After evaluating all of the results, the team hypothesized that no single constituent parameter dominated the high-velocity impact behavior of DLF parts. Instead, the key parameter appears to be the composite’s apparent toughness, itself a function of the specific constituents paired and the interface achieved between them, as well as the tape’s meso-scale structure. The clearest proof of how much these intrinsic properties are interlinked is the very large increase in performance obtained by changing the flake geometry, and thus the part’s meso-structure. Despite the lack of predictability of such a material property, interesting generic trends could still be obtained in this study.

Platform demonstrator tests

Using results from the initial plate tests, an in-house-designed fan platform demonstrator was fabricated that closely approximated a real part for 25,000-35,000-pound thrust class engines. Among the design guidelines used, the Greene Tweed team limited the estimated part deflection upon hail impact to safe levels (as determined from the plate testing) by adequately stiffening the structure geometrically. This was done by strategically placing a central rib within the part and reinforcement gussets along its sides to limit the size of the unsupported region in the aerodynamic surface that would be impacted.

The rendering at left shows the five impact locations tested on demonstrator platforms with the most critical highlighted at top. Results from these trials of 2-inch hailstones impacting platforms made from various materials are shown here, where “MM” (far right on X-axis) denotes a change in molding parameters to make better use of the DLF 2.0 novel flake shape material.

Five impact locations were initially investigated, and without much surprise, the top right corner — which presented the largest unsupported region — proved to be the most critical. Once this critical location was defined, several of the key hybrid materials identified in the plate study were investigated. Thanks to the coupons study and the more fundamental understanding of DLF failure under high-velocity impact, the team was able to demonstrate that it was possible to achieve the hail impact resistance targets with the standard DLF material. Although performance was indeed higher with the modified flake geometry, being able to use the current DLF material in such applications is very welcome, removing the need to requalify a new material. Also important is the fact that Greene Tweed managed to derive sufficient design guidelines from the plate study to enable this improved impact performance. Still, the DLF 2.0 version remains an option for an application where even higher performance is required.

To ensure that nothing was missed, selected samples were scanned after impact using micro-CT. As with the initial testing on plates, it became clear that the predominance of a tensile failure mode induced by localized bending meant that no damage could be found in the bulk of parts that did not present visible damage at their surfaces. This is due to the highest strain in such a load case always being present at the outer surface of a part, ensuring that the critical location is easily observable.

Higher failure strength for future parts

As a result of this development effort to investigate and optimize DLF’s performance for high-speed impact and front-of-turbofan aeroengine applications, Greene Tweed has developed and explored a wide array of capabilities that now compliment its existing production infrastructure. Hybrid material combinations, geometrical optimization, nondestructive inspection/micro-CT and continued material development via DLF 2.0 are continuing to push discontinuous TPC into more aggressive and demanding applications.

Success for this research initiative was validated through the actual fabrication and testing of a DLF fan platform component made using the already-flying and certified AS4/PEEK carbon fiber material (Xycomp 5175), which solidifies competitive costing and ensures commercial viability. Xycomp DLF continues to offer weight, performance and cost savings compared to machined aluminum parts, with the aeroengine fan platform now proven as an example of such capability with sufficient impact resistance.

About the Author

Sebastien Kohler

Sebastien Kohler is a scientist working on thermoplastic composite materials in the Advanced Technology Group for Structural and Engineered Components at Greene Tweed (Lansdale, Pa., U.S.). He is based in the company’s R&D Center for Composites in Yverdon, Switzerland, and part of a cross-functional team developing new composite materials and novel molding processes alongside working on new applications, from ideation to final component. He holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne, where his thesis involved multi-scale experimental and numerical investigations of thin-ply composite materials.

Flying S was founded in 2001 on David and Penny Shaw’s family farm in Crawford County, Illinois. What started as an aerospace design consultancy has evolved to include engineering and part production, with a 47-machine tool shop and 15-person quality team. Images provided by Flying S. 

In advanced manufacturing, quality is about more than measuring parts to ensure they’re in spec — it’s a continuous loop between the engineers, machinists and quality inspectors. Designs flow from engineering to machining, and parts from machining to quality. In turn, data flows from the quality department back to both machining and engineering, helping engineers design better parts and aiding machinists in improving their production processes. But what’s the best way to get that data from quality to engineering and machining? These departments often use different software, and even if the software is the same, it doesn’t necessarily connect the different departments.

Flying S started as an aerospace design consultancy but has grown to include engineering and part production, along with a 15-person quality team — a necessity when making parts for the aerospace, defense and space industries. Verisurf’s software platform enables Flying S employees to speak the same language, whether they work in the quality lab, on the shop floor or in the design office, closing the loop of part and data flow.

The Flying S inspection department was introduced to Verisurf when it purchased a Master3DGage portable CMM arm about 10 years ago. The team found Verisurf’s CMM programming software easier to use than its previous system, and when they learned Verisurf was compatible with their other equipment, they started implementing it on their other CMMs.

From Design to Manufacturing

Penny and David Shaw founded Flying S on their family farm in Crawford County, Illinois, in 2001. As the business evolved to include not just designing parts, but also making them, it established a machine shop on site. “While it was initially conceived to support composites work, it's grown to be more than that,” explains Adam Wesley, who does inspection support for company’s quality department. While the shop still machines molds for composite aerostructures, machined components with complex geometries and tight tolerances now make up a significant portion of its work. The machine shop has become a pillar of the business in its own right, with 47 machine tools including five-axis VMCs from Matsuura, Brother and Haas; five-axis machines with articulating heads from Kenichi; Haas three-axis VMCs; large routers from Thermwood and C.R. Onsrud; Nakamura lathes with pallets; and Prusa 3D printers.

A robust quality department with 15 employees and equipment including four CMMs, five portable scanning arms, laser scanning systems, and three Zeiss ScanBox systems has grown alongside Flying S’s machine shop. “I don't think Flying S could be Flying S without the quality department,” Wesley says. “Our customer requirements, some of them are pretty stringent.”

Not only does Verisurf work with a range of inspection equipment types and providers, it can also be used by other departments within Flying S. Data from the inspection reports helps machinists adjust processes to produce accurate parts, and engineering can use a part’s CAD file generated by Verisurf during inspection to design other components that connect to it.

Aerospace Inspection

Flying S has been using Verisurf at least 10 years, according to Wesley. The relationship started when Flying S purchased a Master3DGage portable CMM arm. The inspection team had a lot of success with the CMM arm and especially the Verisurf software that came with it. Jones says the department’s previous inspection software was based on the DMIS programming language, making training and support for it difficult to find. When the team switched to Verisurf and its Automate CMM programming software, he says the CMM became a much more valuable tool. When the team learned Verisurf was compatible with other equipment, it started implementing the software on its other CMMs. Flying S now has 17 seats of Verisurf, split between quality, engineering, prototyping and fixture design.

Verisurf’s ability to work with any type of inspection system and CAD file is a huge benefit for Flying S, whose variety of work necessitates a range of inspection methods. “You don't want to use the same type of inspection equipment for every single part that we make,” notes Adam Krupp, an aerospace engineer and previous inspection supervisor at Flying S. For instance, a portable CMM works for smaller quantities but not larger quantities, while parts with tighter tolerances on hole positions are best suited to a traditional CMM. Some parts even need multiple inspection methods. “If we need data that the CMM isn't quite capable of providing, then we'll just pull that program over to an arm and gather additional data into the same program,” Wesley says. “It works for hand measurement, too,” adds inspection supervisor Wes Jones. “If we need hand measurement data for troubleshooting something, Verisurf is where we go to pull the nominal data to find the information we need.”

Flying S also uses Verisurf for reverse engineering. When the owner’s 1930s Spartan Executive aircraft needed a new landing gear component, the inspection team scanned the part and created a CAD file. The engineering team used the file to improve the part, then the machine shop produced it.

Benefits Beyond Inspection

The benefits of Verisurf’s ability to compile data from multiple sources goes beyond the inspection department. “Being able to show the same interface for all those different types of inspections goes a long way to simplifying it for the machinist who's making the parts,” Krupp says. The machinists can then use this data to improve their production processes. “We make some really complex parts, so being able to machine a very complex part and have almost live feedback from the quality department where we can talk the same language and help the machinist make adjustments as needed,” he continues, “it just makes us better at making parts.”

The original landing gear part.

Wesley describes one recent job involving a large, complex machined part. “We machined both sides, pocketed, drilled, threaded — all kinds of crazy features. It’s a transmission housing for Jagemann Engineering in Arvada, Colorado. It was roughly a meter long, but it's also a relatively thin part for that size,” he says. When the first parts were inspected and compared to the CAD model in Verisurf, the inspection team found they were out of shape. But the data also showed how much the part had moved during machining. “The machine shop was actually able to change their machining strategy to eliminate that warpage in the finished product by a huge margin,” he says.

Verisurf also helped Flying S produce a complex composite part that was being laid up in a mold. As the part was being laid up, the engineering team needed to know how thick it was. “We were able to scan it and give them surface data that they were able to incorporate into revising the CAD models for that particular part,” Wesley says. He also says that within the past few weeks, he scanned a part using Verisurf, created a CAD file and sent it to the customer, who used that file to design other parts that would connect to the parts from Flying S “so they would be ready to incorporate it into their prototype when they receive the parts.”

The landing gear part scanned into Verisurf.

Reverse Engineering and More

Verisurf’s uses go beyond part validation. “It’s such a versatile tool because we can use it on so many different things,” Krupp says. For example, its ability to create and append CAD models makes it useful for reverse engineering. It played a key role in reverse engineering a part for a vintage aircraft, a 1930s Spartan Executive owned by Flying S’s owner. “There aren't that many of those aircraft made or flying,” Wesley explains, “And a landing gear component needed some serious help.” The owner brought the part to the inspection department, where Wesley scanned it and created a point cloud of the part. This included not only the shape of the part, but also data on mounting points and some primitive data on the planes. The engineering team used this data to design an improved part which the machine shop made. Then the new part went through inspection, where the team checked hole sizes and ensured it fit with the original hardware. “It's moved on to its final home,” on the vintage aircraft, Wesley says.

The newly machined landing gear part.

Flying S also frequently uses Verisurf to design fixtures that hold parts during CMM inspection. “We use the CAD tools inside of Verisurf and, by extension, inside of Mastercam,” Wesley explains. “They make it pretty easy to create a solid model for a fixture based off the CAD for the original part.” The team then produces the fixtures on its Prusa 3D printers. Wesley estimates the inspection department uses this process for 25 to 30% of the parts it inspects.

Solutions, Not Software

As a growing company, Flying S is taking on interns and onboarding new employees. Verisurf’s user-friendly interface and integration with Mastercam help streamline onboarding, as does its ability to work with all of Flying S’s inspection equipment, regardless of type or brand.

Verisurf provides a single platform for not only the inspection department but also engineering and machining to use. This streamlines onboarding and training. Verisurf also provides continued training and support, so Flying S can refine and expand its use of the software.

But training doesn’t stop after onboarding. Flying S brings in Verisurf for training regularly, not just to get new inspectors up to speed, but also to lead advanced training for experienced inspectors. For Flying S’s next training session, Verisurf is “sending one of their top guys here to do it,” Jones adds. “It means a lot to us.” Wesley says the team is hoping to increase its proficiency with 3D scanning. “Verisurf has the capability of scanning a part and then correlating it with the model and building out your data from the real part from that scan.” This will help Flying S expand its reverse engineering capabilities. “There’s a lot of old airplanes flying around. It'd be cool to be able to build parts for those,” Wesley says. “We've seen the need for that knowledge, and we're going to try to try to leverage that into how we use Reverse.”

Flying S’s relationship with Verisurf has even expanded from software to hardware, with the shop buying new inspection equipment through Verisurf. “If we buy it from Verisurf, their engineer will be here on site to help us set it up and make sure it's working correctly in their software,” Wesley explains. Krupp also notes that major inspection purchases typically require a new seat of Verisurf. “Having all of that stuff bundled together makes the process really easy,” he says.

Transcript

Brent Donaldson 

Welcome to Kennesaw, Georgia, home of Win-Tech, a precision machine shop that's as dedicated to machining as it is its mission.

John Hudson 

Veterans who first time offenders, if they can get into the program, it’s roughly a two year program. It's pretty intense process that they go through, but then when they graduate, their records expunged.

Brent Donaldson 

Inside you'll see how this veteran and female co owned company produces aerospace and defense parts with the security standards to match, including level two CMMC compliance.

Allison Giddens 

We talked to Dennis and said, you know, we want raises, and here's why. And we gave him justification, and Dennis agreed, and he said, “Okay, I'll give you a raise.” And John said, “No, I want Allison to make what I make.” No duh, I go into business with somebody like this, you know.

Brent Donaldson 

But what really sets Win-Tech apart is their award-winning approach to people. Named the 2025 Top Shops Honoree in Human Resources, win tech opens the door for the next generation of machinists and gives second chances through programs like Cobb County's Veterans Treatment Court. Stick with us as we explore the technology, the culture and the leadership that make Win-Tech one of the most distinctive shops we've seen.

John Hudson 

So welcome to Win-Tech. This is the shop floor behind you. Here is what we call the fishbowl. That's where the guys will go in and do all their programming. Well, our shop floor is laid out with our majority of our NCS are up here, as well as our manual machine in the middle of the shop, which you'll see, that's going to be our QC, and then down on the bottom side, that's going to be more of our fab well water jet area up here, we have both horizontal and vertical NC mills.

Brent Donaldson 

And just generally, what, what kind of materials are you guys handling day to day?

John Hudson 

I make a joke. We'll cut anything from acetyl to zinc.

Brent Donaldson 

And the markets that you're serving, the industries that you're serving, primarily defense, aerospace…

John Hudson 

Aerospace, if the customer is willing to pay us to make their parts, we'll be happy to make them that's what it boils down to. Dennis Winslow started a company in 1988 she was probably 13. That's probably the first time I met her, and she came in here to do our website.

Allison Giddens 

I lived next door to Dennis and his wife at the time, I came in 2006 because I was working for big corporation downtown Atlanta, got passed up for promotion. Called my dad crying, said, “I want to quit my job.” He said, “You can't quit your job until you find a new one.” So I called Dennis and said, “I want to come work for you.” And he said, “You don't know what I do.” And so I came in for an interview, and he slid the number across the table from me. It was in that office, and it was 30% less than what I was making. Slid it across, and he said, “I know it's not what you expect, but if you trust me, you could run the place one day.”

John Hudson 

We have a good variety of sizes of machines. This one here is our biggest. I got roughly 56-inch by 86-inch table on that one. So that's my biggest one. I don't have anything currently on it, but a lot of times we'll take and set sheets up there, and we can actually machine the parts out of a whole sheet, and then they're ready to go. Guess the biggest part we've ever made on that is probably about 110 inches long. It was a big plate that went on a table. When I interviewed with Dennis, he's like, “Well, where do you want to be?” I was like, “I want your chair.” And it's funny, because the day we bought the company, Allison and I bought the company, he had actually already cleared out that office in there. And he's like, “All right, come here. I want a picture of this.”

Brent Donaldson 

What year was that? 2020?

John Hudson 

Yeah, we're not the smartest people. We have still in our manual tool shop. I guess we have jig grind capability, ID, grind, OD grind, jig, surface grind, as well as honing.

Brent Donaldson 

Obviously, you guys won the 2025 Top Shops Award in the category of HR and workforce. As far as your hiring strategies go, you have outreach programs to recently incarcerated, obviously, to local tech schools.

John Hudson 

The Veterans Program is very interesting. We have two guys that are going through the veterans program right now that work for us. If they can get into the program. It's roughly a two year program. They have to go to court every week. They have to check in with their mentors. Every week they have assignments that are given to them by the judge, pretty intense process that they go through, but then when they graduate, their their records expunged. I love that program, so that's the reason it's near and dear to my heart.

Allison Giddens 

And a graduation ceremony is life changing.

John Hudson 

Being former military, I can tell you this. You go to you go to basement, you learn all these skills, how to be a soldier, sailor, a Marine. I don't care you learn this, and it's ingrained into you Monday through Friday, or if you're deployed overseas, it's seven days a week. You got someone telling you what to do, when to do it, where to do it, what you're going to wear. I don't think there's enough transition time. They've started getting better with this, transitioning these folks out of the military, because you got to decompress these people. I mean, don't get me wrong, they can function on their own. They can go take care of any business they need that they've been trying to take care of. But what they don't have, is that coming home and being able to dinner interact with all the different realities that hit them in civilian life, so they find themselves doing things that they typically wouldn't have done because they're not They haven't had that time to adapt. This is somewhat of a challenging part, plus one minus two on the slot tolerances and the depths are plus or minus the thou, I think, but cutting all that over that distance and keeping it flat within the fowl that they're wanting, that makes it a makes it a brutal part.

Brent Donaldson 

And you've got to have really rigid fixturing for this right, correct?

John Hudson 

And that's just the end mill work on that alone is crazy. And funny thing is, is they were using a, I don't know, a 50-thou endmill. And he was doing 10-thou cuts. He kept breaking tools. Ten-thou deep, well, he went to 20. And then just started running like clockwork. So instead of taking, you know, most people, oh, take less. No, he took more because his tool got in there and he wasn't having the harmonics build up. So it was actually cutting instead of

Allison Giddens 

We're both involved with the Chattahoochee Technical College, local technical college, and we’ve both been involved with them for years. There's a wonderful professor over there that students really respect, and John's on their like advisory board. I've been on their board of trustees for their foundation. And for years, we kept saying, you know, it's great because the students love that professor, and it's great to have young adults excited about manufacturing, but where do those where does kids come from? You know, the high schools, they're not if they're not teaching manufacturing, where's the pipeline? And so we started pushing and kicking and pitching fits to high school. I would get I would pretty much I got uninvited back to a school board meeting because I wouldn't shut up. And finally, next thing you know now, they're building a what they're calling a Cobb Innovation Technology Academy down the street, and it's going to include a manufacturing pipeline, manufacturing pathway for high school students. I don't know that we sought out some sort of, hey, we're going to try to be the best at HR. I think we just kind of always knew if we can get the right people. I mean, like we've got, we've got a really good management team, Jimmy, Mark and Rose our management team, they're all very different, and they're very good at what they do. They they give a damn. And that's really hard to find, I think, anywhere. And I think if you can find leaders that care. And then I think if you can find people ready to learn and ready to admit when, oops, I messed up this part, and I want to know why, I think that's 80% of the problem, right, I think then you're, you're on the right track to get in somewhere.

Brent Donaldson 

Compliance on the CMMC side. Okay, all right, so, Allison, you've kind of led that effort, yeah. What has it been like, and what did you have to do, especially on the shop floor, to make it happen?

Allison Giddens 

The CMMC piece to us, has been a very tough road, but finding somebody who knew what they were doing was really key in all of this, and the baby steps. I mean, we've been doing this for six, seven years, and just bit by bit, knowing that it wasn't something we needed to okay, we need to gather all this documentation overnight. It was bit by bit. It was figuring out budget wise, okay, if we altered this, would it make our lives easier? Could people, you know, follow the rules easier? If we did it this way? How much is this going to cost us? Do you want to name who helps? Sure, Sentinel Blue. Sentinel Blue. Andy Sauer and his team, phenomenal. So we did not do a traditional gap assessment, because a traditional gap assessment, we felt we were already doing all along, from what I understand out in the marketplace, those are costing anywhere from 20,000 to 50,000 for a small business. So it kind of depends on your environment. We have, you know, some of the small business challenges, I think, you know, in our environment are things like some of these machines, you have an option. You can, you can connect them all to the internet, and then they all, what they say, become in scope, because you've got them on your network.

John Hudson 

She's been asked to speak several different places on this and one of them was pretty cool.

Allison Giddens 

Yeah, we got invited the Pentagon sat down with Under Secretary of Defense to go through some kind of real-life examples of how this would affect us. And I helped to co-write a risk management strategies in small business environment and how it would affect and got told that that was apparently making the rounds at the Pentagon. So it's, it's nice to hear. I get pinged now and then from some friends at the Pentagon now. Now I call them friends, some friends at the Pentagon that say, you know, hey, we're watching your LinkedIn posts. You know, keep up the Small Business speed of the drum.

Brent Donaldson

What would you say to people who are stumbling on videos like this through recommendations on YouTube. How do you talk about what you do and why it matters and why it's important? Like, why should anybody care? Like, what you guys are doing.

John Hudson 

Here, because they get to sleep quietly in their bed and not have to worry about, you know, 99.9% of the population in the United States, they don't have to worry about the government kicking in their door and dragging them off somewhere. That's because of the war fighters. That's because of our our soldiers, our Sailors, Marines, Air Force. You know, that's why, and that's the majority of what we do here goes to support our war fighters.

Allison Giddens 

I think manufacturing in general too. I think you always put it really well that manufacturing is a career for somebody to think about. If you learn how to make a part, how to run a machine, you'll never, ever be looking for a job, you'll always have a skill.

John Hudson 

That's any skilled trade. I don't care if you're an electrician, plumber, if you if you learn a skilled trade, you can go anywhere in this country, in most other countries, and make a living for yourself and your family.

Brent Donaldson 

Hey everybody. Brent Donaldson with Modern Machine Shop here, and if you just watch that video, and you're thinking, “Boy, I'd like my shop to be featured in the view for my shop series,” then just send us an email at shop video, at mmsonline.com, and tell us what sets your shop apart.

Source | NIAR ATLAS FPP Documentary

Wichita State University’s (WSU, Kan., U.S.) National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) has released a documentary-style video that shows how their ATLAS lab team approaches fiber patch placement (FPP) leveraging their 10-axis Samba Pro system by Cevotec (Munich, Germany) — featuring an ultra-fast Scara pick-and-place robot and a six-axis tool manipulator — and how it’s relevant to current challenges in aerospace composites manufacturing. The video can be found below.

The video offers a concise look at FPP process intent and aerospace use cases, including performance test results. In addition, for those who prefer the technical basis, NIAR’s SAMPE‑recognized paper, “Design Optimization and Analysis Validation of Complex Composite Parts Manufactured Using Fiber Patch Placement,” offers additional information on how complex geometry parts can experience significant performance gains by design optimizations that are unique to FPP.

What can aerospace programs take from this? FPP is best used in applications dominated by geometrical complexities like conical transitions, step features and domed shapes (convex /concave) — think fairings, antenna domes, nacelle inlets and sandwich structures with chamfer transitions. NIAR’s work results points to the same outcome: For challenging shapes, where other technologies struggle, a patch-based laminate strategy can maintain the fiber orientation and achieve thickness build-up close to the design requirements at a production rate that future aerospace programs are targeting.

In addition, Cevotec Samba systems supports true multi‑material placement in a single automated sequence, including auxiliary materials like adhesive films and glass fiber veils. Along with adjustable gaps/overlaps definition of the laminate, a distinctive FPP design feature, full single-layer coverage can be achieved. According to Cevotec, this differentiates FPP for complex material stacks and is a key enabler for full lay-up automation of high-performance structures like sandwich panels.

NIAR offers a broad range of development services to aerospace manufacturers, including material tests, prototyping and process development with FPP on-site in the U.S. This enables manufacturers to reduce their risks in the deployment of new technologies and typically shortens overall development cycles. Moreover, Cevotec offers a complimentary first screening and feasibility evaluation.

Source | NIAR

Wichita State University’s (WSU) National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) recently completed a long-term full-scale fatigue test program with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI, San Diego, Calif., U.S.) for the MQ-9B remotely piloted aircraft (RPA).

MQ-9B is GA-ASI’s most advanced RPA and includes the SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian models as well as the new Protector RG Mk1 that is currently being delivered to the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force (RAF). The MQ-9B SkyGuardian is mostly notable for its composite V-tail manufactured by GKN Aerospace (Redditch, U.K.), though GA-ASI’s broader line of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) all largely make use of composite materials.

The program, which began Dec. 13, 2022, was for the third and final lifetime of the MQ-9B, which includes a total of 120,000 operating hours (40,000-plus flight hours per aircraft life). This test verifies the structural integrity of the airframe and is a key milestone in validating design.

The aim of the test program is to identify any potential structural deficiencies ahead of fleet usage and assist in developing inspection and maintenance schedules for the airframe. Test results will be used as documentation for certification and will form the basis for in-service inspections of structural components.

“The completion of our full-scale fatigue test validates years of GA-ASI design and analysis efforts,” says GA-ASI president David R. Alexander. “The first two lifetimes simulated the operation of the aircraft under normal conditions, and the third intentionally inflicted damage to the airframe’s critical components to demonstrate.”

Testing was conducted by NIAR’s Full-Scale Structural Test Lab located at NIAR’s Aircraft Structural Test and Evaluation Center in Park City, Kansas.

“We are thrilled to wrap up this 3-year test program with General Atomics,” adds Brandon Baier, director of NIAR’s Full-Scale Structural Test Lab. “The partnership between NIAR and GA-ASI test engineers was one of the most unique and impressive I have experienced. Both parties worked together consistently and seamlessly to keep the program on track.”

This week’s Pic is the upper section of an engine nozzle, manufactured by Sciaky Inc. for Intuitive Machines’ February 2024 IM-1 mission to the Moon. It was the primary source of thrust for descent during the mission. 

This engine component was made using a Sciaky electron beam additive manufacturing (EBAM) system, which was said to provide shorter lead times, lessened material waste, cost savings, and increased design flexibility. This large-format additive manufacturing (LFAM) process also offered the ability to create near-net shape parts, eliminating long postprocessing times and costs. 

• Material type: Refractory alloy
• Process: EBAM, performed by Sciaky
• Production Time: 16 hours

Uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) design used as a platform to test and demonstrate advanced technologies, particularly those related to sustainability and to the digital thread. Source (All Images) | University of Sheffield AMR

Continuous tows were selectively placed along paths of maximum load using a TFP process to stitch the fibers to a James Cropper rCF nonwoven substrate.

The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC, Catcliffe, U.K.) has realized an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) wing design using tailored fiber placement (TFP) of a James Cropper (Burneside, U.K.) recycled carbon fiber (rCF) nonwoven substrate. The work, used as a platform to test and demonstrate advanced technologies — particularly those related to sustainability and the digital thread — highlights how this process and material combination can achieve intricate, high-performing and sustainable preform options with optimized load paths.

Computational fluid dynamics was used to establish a load case for the wing. From there, continuous tows were selectively placed along paths of maximum load via TFP, stitching the fibers to the substrate. AMRC tested both 20 and 60 gsm nonwoven variants and found both processed well, enabling the use of very thin and lightweight plies.

Pratt & Whitney’s European Technology and Innovation Center (ETIC) will be co-located at  Collins Aerospace’s existing European Innovation Hub in Houten, Netherlands. Source | RTX

Pratt & Whitney (East Hartford, Conn., U.S.), an RTX business, has formally opened its European Technology and Innovation Center (ETIC) in the Netherlands, a facility dedicated to researching advanced propulsion technologies for enabling greater energy efficiency and performance in future commercial aircraft. ETIC enhances Pratt & Whitney’s capability to collaborate with industry and academia in the Netherlands and across Europe, targeting a range of high-impact technologies including advanced gas turbine systems, hybrid-electric and hydrogen propulsion.

“As an independent innovation center dedicated to cutting-edge technology research, ETIC is a first-of-a-kind facility for Pratt & Whitney in Europe, complementing our existing engineering centers in North America, Poland and across the globe,” says Michael Thacker, senior vice president, engineering and technology, Pratt & Whitney. “We see significant potential to grow our activities in the Netherlands, given its strong engineering talent pool and long history of aerospace technology innovation, as well as the opportunities for collaboration between industry, academia and government agencies.”

ETIC is co-located at Collins Aerospace’s existing European Innovation Hub in Houten, Netherlands, and adds to RTX’s longstanding engagement with the Dutch aerospace industry. It follows recent initiatives including RTX’s two memoranda of understanding with the Netherlands Aerospace Group and the signing of a master research agreement with Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), which have established a framework for collaboration on technology research across a wide range of topics. Pratt & Whitney has also secured a dedicated office space at TU Delft’s Aerospace Innovation Hub, further enhancing opportunities to collaborate in the province of South Holland.

“Close collaboration with leading aerospace companies is crucial for developing technologies required to enable a sustainable future of aviation — and to shape the talent that will drive our industry forward,” notes professor Henri Werij dean of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, TU Delft.

Of RTX’s 21,000 staff across 65 locations in Europe, some 300 are based in the Netherlands, primarily at three existing Collins Aerospace sites including Houten. Pratt & Whitney already employs more than 7,000 staff in Europe, the majority at key engineering, manufacturing and maintenance facilities in Poland.

Quickparts, a leader in on-demand manufacturing, reinforces its commitment to “Limitless Manufacturing” with the completion of a U.S. $2.5 million investment in new equipment and facility upgrades at its Seattle, Washington, headquarters. The improvements formally establish the site as an Aerospace & Defence Centre of Excellence, strengthening the company’s long-standing expertise in high-fidelity casting patterns and advanced stereolithography (SLA). At the same time, Quickparts is officially launching its Quick Mould solution across North America, delivering production-quality molded parts in as little as five days.

Together, these initiatives align under one objective: accelerating global manufacturing with precision, speed and reliability.

“For more than three decades, we’ve been driving and redefining global manufacturing — delivering continuous innovation across on-demand services,” says Avi Reichental, CEO of Quickparts. “As we continue to build upon our rich history and proven track record of innovation to help companies rapidly address their most complex manufacturing challenges, today’s announcements reflect this ongoing vision and commitment to our customers.”

Seattle Expansion: U.S. Hub for Precision Investment Casting Patterns and Advanced SLA

With this latest investment, Quickparts has expanded its 
QuickCast investment casting patterns and next-generation SLA capacity in the Americas. This enables higher throughput, increased repeatability and even greater fidelity for precision investment casting patterns used in drone, satellite, propulsion, aviation and defence systems.

Global Expansion of Quick Mould: Production-Quality Parts in as Little as Five Days

Coinciding with the Seattle expansion, Quickparts is introducing Quick Mould to customers across North America, following its strong uptake in Europe. Quick Mould delivers production-quality injection-molded parts in as few as five days, enabling engineers to compress design cycles, validate materials earlier and respond quickly to programme changes — all supported by Quickparts’ engineering teams and expert DFM guidance.

Quick Mould uses rapidly machined aluminum tooling and engineering-grade thermoplastics to move customers from design to functional, production-grade parts at unprecedented speed.

This process has already delivered measurable customer results, including:
• 1-day design-change cycle using PA66 GF50
• 4-day turnaround for high-stress automotive components
• A luxury vehicle button redesigned, tooled, and molded in four days

These achievements demonstrate Quickparts’ commitment to helping manufacturers reduce development time and maintain momentum, even under demanding schedules.

“The addition of enhanced SLA capabilities and the Seattle expansion represent significant steps in strengthening our global manufacturing footprint,” says Peter Jacobsen, EMEA president at Quickparts. “Seeing the strong momentum of Quick Mould across Europe, I’m especially excited that our multinational customers will now have access to this transformative technology.”

Quick Mould is now available to customers across North America and Europe.

John Giraldo led the development of the CoroMill M5C331, a disc-style cutter shaped to follow the 3D profile between blades. Rather than roughing in steps or plunges, the tool engages continuously, removing maximum material in a single multiaxis motion. The tool can be modified by diameter, width, number of teeth, radius of arc and pitch. Photo Credits: All images provided by Sandvik Coromant

Blisk machining is a testing ground for process control. While it’s often the finishing operations that receive the most attention, it may be the roughing operations of integrally bladed rotors that matter most. Why? Because this is where the biggest gains or failures are to be found, especially in materials like titanium or nickel-based superalloys.

I recently sat for an in-depth conversation with John Giraldo, aerospace engineering manager for Sandvik Coromant in the Americas, where he serves as one of the foremost technical experts on blisk machining and spent more than a decade as a specialist in aerospace and machining projects. Aerospace shops understand the need to leave precise stock for semi-finishing and finishing operations, Giraldo says, yet they often rely on roughing strategies that add time, consume tools unnecessarily or introduce risk.

“If the roughing isn’t optimized, you can be wasting time, burning through end mills or even creating distortion that sabotages the rest of the process,” he says.

During our conversation, as well as in a recent webinar for Modern Machine Shop, Giraldo detailed four roughing strategies tested on both Inconel and titanium blisks: full slotting, high-feed side milling, plunge milling and curve slotting. Each method carries different trade-offs in terms of cycle time, tool life, chip evacuation and process security. The goal isn’t to declare a single winner, but to help shops make smarter, more aggressive choices without sacrificing control.

Four Approaches to Roughing

This image shows the CoroMill Plura Gannet solid carbide end mill stepover application for plunge milling, and the forward and side stepover limits when applying the tool.

Roughing is about bulk material removal, but the strategy used for blisk production makes a dramatic difference. “There’s no single best method,” Giraldo says. “The blade geometry, machine dynamics, CAM software, and even how many blend points you’re allowed to use all factor in.” The four approaches we’ll examine here are full slotting, high-feed side milling, plunge milling and curve slotting.

Full slotting is best used when geometry or CAM limitations prevent more advanced strategies. The method uses large radial engagement, medium depth and lower feed rates to carve material between blades. The upside of full slotting is simplicity (due to straightforward tool paths that require minimal programming) but the downside is high thermal load, risk of tool breakage and, often, shorter tool life. Giraldo points to a Sandvik test on Inconel 718 where a solid end mill wore out after just 28 passes at 10-mm depth, versus 39 passes at 7.5 mm. “Full slotting is the least secure method,” he says.

When paired with CAM strategies like adaptive or dynamic toolpaths, high-feed side milling uses a small radial step-over and full flute engagement at high feed rates to improve efficiency and reduce cutting forces. 

High-feed side milling, when paired with CAM strategies like adaptive or dynamic tool paths, takes the opposite approach. This method uses a small radial step-over and full flute engagement at high feed rates to improve efficiency and reduce cutting forces.

Since the strategy reduces chip load spikes, spreads heat across the tool and promotes better chip evacuation, Giraldo says that tool life can be extended significantly. One trial he ran showed more than 225 minutes longer life in titanium while still removing material faster than slotting. The trial also showed that high-feed milling reduced Inconel cycle time by two-thirds in a head-to-head comparison.

In plunge milling, the cutter engages axially in a multi-axis pattern, stepping down through the material and creating a scalloped floor and walls. These scalloped sections require semi-finishing tools to smooth over, but plunge milling is more stable than slotting when reach and rigidity are factors.

Plunge milling is a strategy best described by its name: roughing out material via straight vertical plunges. In blisk machining it is especially useful when access is limited and tool overhangs are long, such as at the lower hub region of a blisk. Using a tool like Sandvik’s Gannet plunger, the cutter engages axially in a multi-axis pattern, stepping down through the material and creating a scalloped floor and walls as shown here. While these scalloped sections require semi-finishing tools to smooth over, plunge milling is more stable than slotting when reach and rigidity are factors. Plunge cutters are available in solid carbide and exchangeable-tip varieties that enable tailored overhangs for each level of the blade.

Curve slotting is the newest technique of the four. The technique uses a disc-style cutter that is shaped to follow the 3D profile between blades, and rather than roughing in steps or plunges, the tool engages continuously and removes maximum material in a single multiaxis motion. Giraldo led the development of the company’s M5C331 cutter specifically for this purpose, using tests that involved machining 17 Inconel slots — each in 13 minutes — using just one edge of each insert. With further optimization provided by Vericut Force software, he says that time was cut in half.

Choosing the Right Method

When choosing a roughing strategy, think back to the geometric factors that will influence your decision: blade pitch, height, curvature and allowable blend points. For example, “If the part has a tight curvature between blades, a disc-style cutter might not fit,” Giraldo explains. “But if there’s room, curve slotting becomes an extremely efficient and cost-effective solution.”

Other factors to consider include:

Machine capability: High-feed milling works well on lighter-duty five-axis machines. Curve slotting, on the other hand, may require more rigid equipment with sufficient torque and clearance.

Tool reach and assembly: Long overhangs that are necessary for deep cuts can introduce vibration. To combat this, Giraldo recommends modular assemblies with specially tuned mass dampers, exchangeable heads or shrink-fit holders depending on the level being cut.

Fixturing: Roughing strategies that require side access like plunge or curve slotting may require custom workholding to avoid interference between spindle housing and blade walls.

CAM software: High-feed milling and curve slotting require tool paths that account for air cuts, tilt transitions and chip-load variation. Giraldo’s tests for Sandvik used Vericut to optimize feed rates based on force and chip thickness predictions, extending tool life and reducing air time.

“Most CAM systems output a constant feed rate, regardless of where the cutter is in the material,” Giraldo says. “But that doesn’t reflect reality. The chip load changes as the tool enters and exits, especially with a disc cutter. Vericut lets us optimize around that, speeding up in air, slowing down during engagement and keeping chip thickness consistent.”

Where to Begin

Overhauling your blisk machining process takes time, but Giraldo says the place to start is clear: “Roughing is where you have the most flexibility and the fewest regulatory constraints. You’re not inspecting an airfoil at this stage. So that’s where the opportunity lies.”

For shops still using slotting as the default, the first step might be revisiting CAM strategies and tooling choices. From there, newer methods like curve slotting can be evaluated based on part geometry, machine capability and economic payoff.

“Even a five-year-old tool path might be holding you back,” Giraldo says. “Today’s roughing strategies are faster, more secure and more controllable if you know how to apply them.”

Safran Landing Systems produces carbon/carbon (C/C) discs for aircraft brakes. Source | Safran Group

This blog is a compilation of publicly available information on Safran Group’s (Paris, France) production of carbon fiber-reinforced carbon (carbon/carbon) brake discs for aircraft. The company published a video earlier this year (see below) that walks through its production steps. Carbon/carbon (C/C) brake discs are still one of the highest volume applications for ceramic matrix composites (CMC), but that is changing as demand increases for industrial and aerospace end uses. Having toured Brembo’s facility near Bergamo, Italy, which produces C/C brakes for racing cars (there is also a sidebar on their CMC brake disc production for street cars), I thought it would be interesting to look at Safran’s production sites, output and innovations in processing and ongoing initiatives for increased sustainability.

With more than 40 years of experience — having introduced carbon fiber-reinforced C/C brakes on Airbus A310 aircraft in 1985 — Safran Landing Systems (Vélizy-Villacoublay, France) claims the title of world leader in C/C brakes for aircraft with more than 100 seats. It reportedly equips 55% of these commercial airliners worldwide and supports 500+ airlines and 1500+ military programs. The company produces carbon brakes at three facilities: Villeurbanne, France (in Lyon); Walton, Kentucky in the U.S. (south of Cincinnati, Ohio) and in Sendayan, Malaysia. It is also building a fourth facility roughly 30 minutes east of Lyon, set to open by 2030.

Carbon brakes are lighter, more efficient and two to three times more durable than steel brakes, helping operators reduce fuel consumption, cost and CO₂ emissions. Safran reports that the quantity of CO₂ prevented during flight thanks to C/C brakes is 10 times more than what is generated during the brake manufacture, totaling several hundred tons of emissions avoided fleet-wide every year.

Production worldwide

At its historic Messier-Bugatti-Dowty site in Villeurbanne, Safran reported a 2023 production of 5,000 wheels and 6,000 brakes per year.

Source | Safran Group

The Walton, Kentucky site opened in 1999 and reportedly produces close to 140,000 carbon brake disks and more than 9,500 wheels and brake sets per year. Its 350 employees support Boeing 737, 777 and 787 aircraft, the Airbus A320 family, and C-17 and KC-135 military aircraft. The company announced an expansion in 2023 to include 92 new jobs, new equipment and automation to boost production.

Source | Safran Group

Celebrating its 10^th anniversary in January 2025, the Sendayan, Malaysia site produces 350 metric tonnes of C/C per year, including roughly 80,000 new carbon brake disks. Each year, it also refurbishes more than 15,000 heat sinks — or heat packs, comprising a stack of brake discs —and overall supports 100-150 airlines in the region.

Carbon aircraft brake configuration

Each wheel in an aircraft’s landing gear is equipped with a brake. A common configuration for carbon brakes uses four rotational discs (rotors) and three or four stationary discs (stators) alternating in a heat stack or heat pack. The rotors engage with the wheel’s drive keys and thus rotate with the wheel. The stators include an end plate facing outward and a pressure plate at the other end of the stack (see images below).

During braking, fluid from the brake piston moves the pressure plate to compress the rotors and stators against the end plate. The resulting friction converts kinetic energy into heat, decelerating the wheel. During landing, the C/C rotors and stators can see 700°C, but C/C brake discs can easily withstand 1000°C and higher. This heat resistance is what enables carbon brakes to maintain structural integrity without failure or degradation (e.g., brake fade).

Source | Aircraft Science, “How Landing Gear Works – Part 1: Brakes”

SepCarb IV for Long Life brakes

In April 2018, Safran worked with Airbus to install new Long Life carbon brakes on A320neo aircraft. That product, the SepCarb IV brake, was the first C/C brake put into service since the release of the Sepcarb III 15 years prior. This new “Long Life” brake features two major innovations: SepCarb IV carbon and Anoxy 360, a new system to protect brake disks from oxidation. These not only provided improvements during use but also during manufacturing to address the challenge at that time of meeting the ramp in A320neo production rates.

Safran’s C/C brake production site in Villeurbanne, on the outskirts of Lyon, France, developed a unique manufacturing method for producing SepCarb IV on an increased industrial scale. Instead of performing impregnation of carbon fiber preforms with solvent and then damping or drying these as two separate steps, it combined them in the same equipment — eliminating handling in between and reducing both production time and cost.

SepCarb IV also used ceramic particles to improve wear of the C/C brake, enabling a 30% reduction in brake usage. This provided benefits not only for aircraft operators, but also further helped to meet the A320neo production rate. Safran also modified the process to reduce the amount of nitrogen it consumed during thermal processing and eliminated atmospheric emissions, collecting the process waste as a liquid instead.

A second impregnator was added in 2019, and the process was rolled out to other sites.

 

Carbon fiber (top) is used to create needled preforms (center) that are then carbonized and infiltrated with a carbon matrix to form discs (bottom). Source | Safran Group, “Genesis of a carbon brake”

As described in its July 2025 video, the manufacturing process Safran uses for its C/C brake discs involves four main steps:

• Production of carbon fiber preforms, which involves needling layers of continuous fiber.
• High-temperature carbonization of preforms and densification of the carbon matrix via chemical vapor infiltration (CVI).
• Machining the discs and performing quality assurance including dimensional checks.
• Final processing including spraying and heat treatment of an oxidation protection coating, followed by assembly of multiple discs into a single C/C brake unit.

New production site in Lyon, environmental goals

Source | Safran Group

Safran is building a new carbon brake plant at the Plaine de l’Ain Industrial Park (PIPA) near Lyon. Scheduled to open in 2030, Safran’s latest C/C brake production site will provide a 25% increase in the company’s overall production volume by 2037. The 30,000-square-meter facility will be highly automated, with ≈100 employees when it opens and double that at full capacity.

The company is targeting Lyon to be a zero-emissions facility (Scope 1 and 2). Because energy can account for up to 30% of the cost of manufacturing a carbon brake, Safran chose the Lyon site for the availability of low-carbon electricity. It will also use biomethane as its carbon matrix precursor injected during CVI. As a result, the site’s electricity and gas consumption will be reduced by nearly 30% and water consumption by 80%. In addition, the heat generated by the C/C production process will be recovered to supply a heating network. Some of these technologies will also be rolled out at other Safran C/C brake facilities.

Safran overall has committed to reduce the carbon emissions of its activities by 2030 to ≈50% compared to 2018. In its 2025 ESG report, the company reported achieving a 35% reduction in direct emissions across all its businesses in 2025 versus 2018.

For Safran Landing Systems, the Sendayan, Malaysia site has reduced its CO₂ emissions by 27% since 2018, including reuse of effluent gases released during carbon disc production to generate 20% of the site’s electricity and widespread use of variable frequency drives, which tailors the speed (and power use) of electric motors of machines to their actual needs. The site is also planning to implement a new power management system to control and optimize site utility consumption including electricity, gas and water. According to a July 2024 newsletter, the Sendayan site signed a 21-year agreement with a local solar power producer which will start in 2026 and add another 10% of renewable energy to the current electricity mix. This complements a partnership signed in 2023 with a local firm generating electricity from biomass, which covers 30% of the site’s needs.

Extending C/C disc service life, reusing waste

Another key initiative that embraces emissions reductions via circularity is a carbon brake disk refurbishment process that was developed by Safran Landing Systems more than 30 years ago. Today, around 30% of the discs it delivers to airlines are refurbished using this method.

Although the average lifespan of Safran carbon brake discs varies by aircraft model and operational factors, it is not uncommon for them to see 2,000 to 2,500 landings between overhauls. Subjected to temperatures exceeding 1,000°C on a daily basis, they do eventually wear — although lasting much longer than steel discs — and are decommissioned at a set limit before they are fully worn out.

Source | Safran Group

“By refurbishing two worn discs, we obtain two half-discs that are then reused to create a new disc,” explains Jean-Luc Noirjean, product strategy manager at Safran Landing Systems. “This refurbished disc performs just as well as a newly manufactured one. Airlines provide us with heat sinks that have reached their regulatory limit. In return, we send them a refurbished brake disc; this is what we call a standard exchange.”

The 30% of discs delivered that are refurbished means 30% less CO₂ emissions, notes Jean-Baptiste Lassalle, head of Safran Landing Systems’ Wheels and Brakes Division. “We set up this process in the mid-90s for the Airbus A300, A310 and A320 programs to reduce manufacturing costs … but it also sparked a virtuous circular economy dynamic within our operations.”

Going forward, Safran Landing Systems will investigate new ways to recycle even these refurbished aircraft brake discs at the end of their life for use in other industries. At the same time, it has implemented several waste reduction projects. “We’ve developed a process to manufacture felt from fibers that are not used during production, which represents nearly half of our fiber purchases,” says Lassalle. “This felt, which is produced by a partner company, serves as insulation for our furnaces. We’ve also set up a system to recycle machining dust from our carbon discs [for use] in cement production plants. More broadly, the projects that we are setting up aim to minimize material waste throughout our entire production cycles.”

These environmental initiatives and circular economy ramp-up have led to an organization that is increasingly methodical and structured, says Lassalle. “Last year, we created a dedicated position to consolidate evaluation methods for our product life cycles and carbon emissions. This position also focuses on enhancing the recyclability of our products. The more we develop these types of initiatives, the more we pave the way for new economic models that fully integrate circular economy principles.”

Digital transformation, future growth

Safran is also implementing a variety of digital transformation initiatives including robotic process automation (RPA) using software to automate repetitive and mundane tasks as well as cobots, augmented reality and automated machines to speed production. The company is also implementing health monitoring and predictive maintenance into its products, including brakes, and is developing ways to leverage AI. For example, Safran Landing Systems worked with its partner in machine programming, MHAC Technologies (Écully, France), to standardize and automate 3D measurement and machining of its carbon brake discs. Using machine learning, the team reduced the number of programs run for different brake discs from more than 100 down to several dozen and further accelerated production.

Source | “The Global Market for CMC”, published by the Ceramic Composites network

This continued increase in output will be needed, because the demand for carbon brakes continues to increase as aircraft fleets are modernized both for higher performance and reduced fuel consumption and emissions. This growth can be seen in the forecast shown here from the Global CMC Market Report published in 2023 by the Ceramic Composites network. Denny Schüppel, managing director for the Ceramic Composites network, notes that Safran Landing Systems is just one of several manufacturers of C/C brakes for aircraft and that non-aircraft brake applications for C/C materials are also growing quickly.

The 2023 CMC market report also includes a table showing the number of heat packs per aircraft type and notes that, depending on the number of landings per day, most aircraft receive new heat packs every 4-18 months with roughly 50% of all C/C aircraft brakes experiencing a second life. Schüppel says an update of the Global CMC Market Report is scheduled to be published in March 2026.

Carbon fiber-reinforced carbon heat pack (reprinted with permission of SGL Carbon SE) and Table 5 from “LCA-based evaluation of greenhouse gas reduction potentials of carbon/carbon wheel brakes for medium-haul aircraft”

Schüppel is also a co-author on a Nov. 2025 article that gives further details on C/C heat stacks, their production and refurbishment as it explores a life cycle assessment (LCA) versus the significant weight and fuel savings they achieve. The report finds that “even the least favorable C/C use case scenario combination relates to fewer CO₂ equivalents than the most favorable metallic use case scenario.” 

SW North America’s BA W06-22 and BA 322i
multispindle machining centers are designed to provide efficiency and flexibility for manufacturers across diverse industries, including automotive, e-mobility, medical devices, aerospace, agriculture and construction equipment.

The BA W06-22 is a twin-spindle horizontal machining center built for large, lightweight parts made from aluminum and nonferrous materials. With a work envelope of 600 × 900 × 650 mm, the machine is well suited for machining battery trays, aerospace structures and agricultural components with demanding tolerances and surface finish requirements.

The BA 322i is a fully integrated, twin-spindle machining center with onboard robotics and workpiece storage, enabling continuous, lights-out production. With its compact footprint and automation-ready design, the BA 322i is suitable for medical device components, aerospace fasteners and automotive parts requiring both speed and precision.

Syensqo’s end-to-end double diaphragm forming (DDF) system. Source | Syensqo

Syensqo (Alpharetta, Ga., U.S.) and aerospace and defense company Bell Textron Inc. (Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.), an aerospace and defense company, have joined forces to accelerate the industrialization of composites.

Bell is an early adopter of Syensqo’s patented double diaphragm forming (DDF) manufacturing process, which when coupled with its fast-cure aerospace prepreg Cycom EP 2750, has proven efficient and automatable processing for high-rate, high-volume composites manufacturing.

Bell qualified and industrialized this technology quickly, achieving high-rate production of aerospace composite parts. Implementing the process has brought major benefits such as decreased operational costs while generating positive environmental aspects such as reduced waste, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, DDF has enabled the relief of autoclaves use for curing Bell’s small- to medium-size parts, enabling the autoclaves’ use for larger parts instead.

“After more than 30 years our Syensqo-Bell relationship continues to bring innovative solutions to benefit the composite industry,” says Marc Doyle, business executive vice president of Syensqo Composite Materials. “Syensqo’s customer support model is based on the belief that design, material and manufacturing are all interrelated and key to a successful increase in composites adoption. Our teams are structured to support this model and customer collaborations are fundamental in working toward a more industrialized composites industry.”

Source (All Images) | Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI)

Six pioneering organizations and research projects in U.K. aerospace have been celebrated in the third annual Aerospace Technology & Innovation Awards, hosted by the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI, Cranfield, U.K.). The awards spotlight innovation, collaboration and progress toward net-zero aviation, with categories that recognize startups, impactful R&D and the ATI Project of the Year.

The 2025 winners are:

• Innovation Award for the most exciting emerging technology – iCOMAT
• Shaping the Future Award for advancing zero-carbon emission flight –Airbus
• Making the Difference Award for most impactful small R&D project –Sora Aviation
• ATI Hub Breakthrough Award for most promising startup – Darvick
• Team Award for successful collaboration and partnership – The AeroMC team led by Safran Electrical and Power
• ATI Project of the Year – GKN Aerospace for the ELCAT project.

The winners were announced in front of 450 delegates during the 2-day ATI Conference 2025, held at the ICC Wales in Newport from Nov. 4-5.

“This is the third edition of our awards and we were overwhelmed by the quality of the applications again this year,” says Sophie Lane, chief relationships officer of ATI. “Our winners tell us that the awards really do matter, and that the spotlight on their project or company has helped them to attract partners and funding. I would like to congratulate the six winners, as well as the many Highly Commended entries, and look forward to seeing how their innovations, technologies and collaborations make an impact on the global aerospace sector.”

Innovation Award – iCOMAT

ICOMAT has commercialised and patented the Rapid Tow Shearing (RTS) process, which is an automated composites manufacturing technology that can place wide composite tapes along curved paths without defects. In addition to lightweighting and performance benefits, the automation of the RTS process facilitates high-rate production, meeting the demands of traditional aerospace as well as fast-growing sectors such as eVTOL aircraft.

The judging panel felt that this innovation has very high impact potential, significantly enhancing the U.K. aerospace sector by revolutionizing the design and manufacture of composite components. Read: Industrializing rapid tape shearing for high-rate, 3D composite structures.

The judges awarded Highly Commended to:

• ITP Aero, and its partners the Manufacturing Technology Centre and University of Nottingham, for a laser beam welding solution that takes an innovative approach compared to traditional joining methods.
• TT Electronics, for its Altitude DC high-voltage power conversion solution that reduces development time and cost, allows faster iterations, simplifies integration and accelerates qualification.

Shaping the Future Award – Airbus

The ZEST1 project led by Airbus explored fuel cell-compatible hydrogen storage and distribution solutions. It tackled several technical challenges, including integration, the ability to adapt disruptive technologies to aeronautical standards and the development of different aircraft architectures.

The judges noted that ZEST1 has made good progress to cement the foundations for zero-emission hydrogen flight technology at aircraft system level. It is a technology development that not only matures technology in liquid hydrogen aviation but also provides infrastructure to support future technology work by Airbus and others.

The judges awarded Highly Commended to:

• The AeroMC project from Safran Electrical and Power, which developed a Factory of the Future in Pitstone with a pilot line to prove out high-volume production of electric motors.

Making the Difference Award – Sora Aviation

High computational costs currently limit early design access to only the largest firms, creating barriers for SMEs and slowing innovation. The SoraAero project overcomes this with an AI tool that rapidly generates and evaluates preliminary designs. By reducing reliance on high-fidelity CFD and wind tunnel testing, the Sora Aviation solution could accelerate market entry by up to 24 months.

The judging panel noted how Sora is already applying early toolchain outputs to its design process, providing valuable validation of design choices and enabling engineers to identify implications early and avoid costly late-stage redesigns. Judges also noted how Sora’s work to develop a 30-seat eVTOL has attracted significant foreign investment into the U.K. and has directly created and sustained high-value engineering roles across the company and its partners.

ATI Hub Breakthrough Award – Darvick

There is currently a shortage of facilities that can replicate the extreme environments required for validating equipment for cryogenic aircraft. Darvick is developing advanced material testing capability for mechanical validation in harsh environments and extreme temperatures.

The judging panel agreed that Darvick is addressing a critical gap and showing strong innovation in creating a unique test capability that is fundamental to understanding how materials behave with exposure to hydrogen.

The judges awarded Highly Commended to:

• MatNex for its AI-driven material discovery, combining machine learning, high-performance computing and rapid lab validation.
• The Metralis system by K3Metrology, a large-volume measurement system for aerospace and manufacturing.

Team Award – The AeroMC team led by Safran Electrical and Power

The AeroMC project, led by Safran Electrical and Power with partners the Manufacturing Technology Centre and WMG, was created to design a Factory Of The Future and implement the first building block: a semi-automated pilot line at Safran Electrical and Power Pitstone. The team has successfully completed a series of project phases and workshops to ensure that the pilot line is suitable for current and future manufacturing needs.

The judges noted that the ways of working have been so successful that the partners are now collaborating on a new project, retaining the same team members, as well as looking to implement wider benefits across Safran UK.

The judges awarded Highly Commended to:

• The team from Airbus and Dassault Systèmes that collaborated on the Smarter Testing project, which developed some methods for combining virtual testing with physical validation tests.
• The Green Aviation Insights (GAIN) team led by NATS for taking a shared challenge across five countries and implementing an operation tool within a year.

ATI Project of the Year – GKN Aerospace (ELCAT)

The ELCAT project brought together GKN Aerospace and U.K. universities to transform aerospace assembly through advanced automation, digitalization and collaborative innovation. Early exploitation of automated solutions developed under ELCAT have already achieved direct measurable savings within GKN Aerospace manufacturing facilities in the U.K.

The judges agreed that ELCAT is a project that directly supports the aerospace industry’s journey to net zero by rethinking how advanced manufacturing systems are designed, deployed and used.

The judges awarded Highly Commended to:

• The REINSTATE project led by Rolls-Royce, which developed engine health monitoring sensing, in situ maintenance and inspection, adaptive repair and digital life cycle engineering techniques;
• The CONVERGENCE project of Moog Controls, which integrated digital twin technology, advanced automation and real-time analytics into a high-precision production line;
• Honeywell Aerospace’s ECLAIR project, which set out to reduce the environmental footprint of aircraft through improved air management technologies.

Meet the winners of this year’s Aerospace Technology & Innovation Award winners announced at ATI Conference 2025 through ATI’s Youtube channel.

Toray Cetex semipreg material in laminating room at Toray Advanced Composites, Nijverdal, The Netherlands. Source | Toray Advanced Composites

Toray Advanced Composites B.V. (Nijverdal, The Netherlands) has achieved further National Center for Advanced Materials Performance (NCAMP) qualifications for Toray Cetex TC1225 low-melt PAEK.

The TC1225/T300 fabric-based thermoplastic composite (TPC) material, now available in the NCAMP database, comes in semipreg and large pre-consolidated reinforced TPC laminate formats, bringing versatility to design and processing options.

The fabric-based semipreg offers customers design flexibility and an expanded process window for manufacturing optimization, while the reinforced thermoplastic laminates can be tailored to customer-specific thicknesses and orientation requirements. Laminates can also be configured to include integrated functionalities, such as lightning strike protection and galvanic corrosion protection, bringing further processing and functional benefits.

With FAA-accepted, statistically validated material property data now publicly available, customers are able to leverage NCAMP material, process specification and design allowables to accelerate aircraft structural design and certification. 

“Adding our fabric-based Toray Cetex TC1225 material to the NCAMP database reflects Toray’s ongoing commitment to advancing TPC and adoption of these materials across the aerospace supply chain,” notes Scott Unger, CEO of Toray Advanced Composites. “This milestone will be further strengthened by NCAMP qualifications on additional Cetex product types, which are expected to be finalized in the near future.”

Toray continues to expand its NCAMP-qualified portfolio, with resin-rich surface configurations of TC1225/T700 and TC1225/T1100 unidirectional tapes material qualifications in process. According to the company, these developments will deliver even greater processing flexibility for manufacturers to create structural components using a wide range of processing methods. Data for these two material types is expected to be available in the coming months.

Toray Cetex TC1225 is a semi-crystalline low-melt PAEK resin system known for its optimal mechanical properties and proven success for primary to secondary structures within the aerospace industry. The distinctive value of Toray Cetex TC1225 over other composites with a PAEK family matrix is its processability, vacuum bag only performance and suitability for a wide range of thermoplastic production methods. It was also the first approved thermoplastic material qualified by NIAR NCAMP in 2020.

Source | Uavos, Veda Aeronautics

Uavos Inc. (Dover, Del., U.S.) and Veda Aeronautics (P) Ltd. (Uttar Pradesh, India) have entered into a strategic agreement to collaborate on the manufacturing of composite structures for unmanned aircraft (UAV, UAS) in India, supported by Uavos’ full engineering service capabilities.

Under the agreement, Uavos will transfer technology and provide technical assistance to Veda Aeronautics in the production and assembly of aerostructures for unmanned systems. This collaboration enhances India’s existing infrastructure for current UAS programs and aligns with the Indian government’s “Make in India” initiative.

Working closely with Veda Aeronautics, Uavos brings extensive expertise in low‑ to high‑temperature composite processing, employing key production technologies such as resin transfer molding (RTM), autoclave processing and hand layup techniques. Uavos will share its experience in producing composite structural components and assemblies, including fuselage and wing parts, skin panels and moveable surfaces.

Veda Aeronautics specializes in harnessing the power of narrow AI, electro-optics and robotics to create advanced solutions that redefine the capabilities of modern defense systems. The company is currently delivering combat UAV systems to the Indian Air Force and developing a counter-UAS sensor suite for armored vehicles and unmanned systems

Combining Uavos’ knowledge in producing advanced unmanned systems with Veda’s large‑scale local production capabilities will form a strong foundation for long‑term, mutually beneficial growth.

Source | ZeroAvia

ZeroAvia (Kemble, U.K. and Everett, Wash., U.S.) has been awarded design organization approval (DOA) by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), a critical milestone on its path to certifying a hydrogen-electric engine intended for Part 23 aircraft. The accreditation confirms that the CAA is satisfied that ZeroAvia has the technical expertise, facilities and capabilities to design safe and reliable products, and is prepared to comply with stringent requirements for certification.

ZeroAvia reports that, through this award, it has “become the first company globally seeking to certify a hydrogen-electric aviation powertrain to receive DOA accreditation from a national regulator.” The award confirms that a manufacturer is qualified to design and hold a type certificate (TC) for propulsion systems developed under commercial aviation regulations. These requirements are intended to ensure safe global market entry and have been adopted by other regulatory authorities, including the EASA and the FAA. 

Securing DOA represents an essential enabler toward the company’s goal of securing a type certificate for the ZA600 — a 600-kilowatt powertrain which uses fuel cells to generate electricity from hydrogen.

Achieving DOA status follows two other significant regulatory milestones for ZeroAvia in 2025, with the U.S. FAA issuing both G-1 and P-1 issue papers in relation to ZeroAvia’s bid to certify its 600-kilowatt electric propulsion system (EPS). The 600-kilowatt EPS is made up of the company’s motor and power electronics technology and is both an integral part of the overall ZA600 hydrogen-electric powertrain, and a power-source agnostic electric engine in its own right, with a range of applications. 

Earlier this year, ZeroAvia also confirmed that RVL Aviation, an airline in Derby, intends to be the first operator to fly the ZA600 engine in a Cessna Caravan 208b on cargo routes in the U.K. The company is also working to scale the hydrogen-electric propulsion technology for larger segments of aircraft and has secured thousands of engine pre-orders with airlines across the world. 

The company has established a range of test facilities at its U.K. R&D and flight testing center at Cotswold Airport, enabling an efficient testing program to satisfy the means of compliance that it is in the process of agreeing with the CAA. After rigorous inspection of the facilities, interviews with ZeroAvia’s team and audit of its process, the CAA was able to award the DOA.  

United Grinding North America, a subsidiary of United Machining Solutions, has expanded its continental dealer network by partnering with MDI Machine Tools, based in Carrollton, Texas. 

The partnership between MDI and United Grinding North America indicates positive growth, the company says, as Texas is becoming a focal point of American manufacturing.

“Texas is an important market for United Grinding North America. Many of the key industries we focus on have prominent manufacturing infrastructure in Texas, which means with the right dealer partner, we can help connect those manufacturing operations with the high-quality equipment these demanding industries require,” says Markus Stolmar, president and CEO of United Grinding North America. “Industries such as aerospace, power generation, oil and gas mining, semiconductors and automotive have strict requirements for precision and performance — which aligns well with the capabilities of our manufacturing technology.”

“Texas stands on the brink of a manufacturing renaissance, with demand for advanced machine tools surging as key industries expand,” says Matt Damele, president of MDI Machine Tools. “With steady investment in precision grinders, robotics-ready CNC systems and smart automated machining centers, the state is poised to lead the nation in high-value production. Our state’s manufacturing ecosystem is accelerating toward a future where every tool purchased supports innovation and efficiency. That is precisely what United Grinding North America equipment provides, and we are excited to partner with them and get to work.”

United Grinding North America, a subsidiary of United Machining Solutions, has expanded its continental dealer network by partnering with MDI Machine Tools, based in Carrollton, Texas. 

The partnership between MDI and United Grinding North America indicates positive growth, the company says, as Texas is becoming a focal point of American manufacturing.

“Texas is an important market for United Grinding North America. Many of the key industries we focus on have prominent manufacturing infrastructure in Texas, which means with the right dealer partner, we can help connect those manufacturing operations with the high-quality equipment these demanding industries require,” says Markus Stolmar, president and CEO of United Grinding North America. “Industries such as aerospace, power generation, oil and gas mining, semiconductors and automotive have strict requirements for precision and performance — which aligns well with the capabilities of our manufacturing technology.”

“Texas stands on the brink of a manufacturing renaissance, with demand for advanced machine tools surging as key industries expand,” says Matt Damele, president of MDI Machine Tools. “With steady investment in precision grinders, robotics-ready CNC systems and smart automated machining centers, the state is poised to lead the nation in high-value production. Our state’s manufacturing ecosystem is accelerating toward a future where every tool purchased supports innovation and efficiency. That is precisely what United Grinding North America equipment provides, and we are excited to partner with them and get to work.”

ACMA CEO Cindy Squires (left) and SAMPE CEO Rebekah Stacha (right) kick off CAMX 2025 by discussing supply chains and sustainability challenges, along with opportunities for innovation.
Source (All Images) | CW

Trade shows like the Composites and Advanced Materials Expo (CAMX) often intersect with the relentless pace of magazine production. As my colleagues and I explore the show floor, we’re simultaneously racing against deadlines, finalizing articles and ensuring content is ready to publish. Back at the office, the whirlwind continues, catching up on projects left midstream. Before you know it, days or weeks have passed.

Yet, CAMX 2025, held in mid-September in Orlando, Florida, demands a deeper dive. With nearly 6,000 attendees and more than 500 exhibitors from across the globe, this year’s event — co-produced by ACMA and SAMPE — offered a snapshot of the composites industry’s trajectory, particularly in key markets like aerospace and infrastructure.

The opening general session, led by ACMA CEO Cindy Squires and SAMPE CEO Rebekah Stacha, set a powerful tone. Addressing a rapidly evolving global landscape, the pair underscored the dual nature of today’s industry — unprecedented challenges in supply chains and sustainability, paired with immense opportunities for innovation. As Squires stated, “From sustainability to next-generation applications, the conversations and partnerships formed here will propel composites forward at a time when the world needs our solutions more than ever.”

Hexcel is partnering with A&P Technology, Hawthorne Composites, NIAR and the AFRL to use braiding and overbraiding techniques to enable high-rate production of mass aircraft solutions for defense. 

Aerospace remains a cornerstone of composites innovation, and CAMX 2025 reflected the industry’s push toward high-rate manufacturing and collaborative solutions. Hexcel, a longtime leader in the sector, doubled down on partnerships with companies like A&P Technology , Hawthorn Composites , Fiber Dynamics and HyPerComp Engineering Inc., and with organizations like Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Imad Atallah, vice president of carbon fibers, matrix and reinforcements for Hexcel, emphasized the need for rapid production systems. “We want to be more intentional about collaboration,” Atallah said. “Why not collaborate with people who are innovating and accelerate?”

Hexcel’s advancements, such as IM11 high-tensile strength carbon fiber for pressure vessels with HyPerComp, as well as its cooperation with its partners and the AFRL to produce net-shape preforms for mass aircraft solutions, signal a future where speed and domestic manufacturing — aligned with U.S. policy initiatives — drive aerospace, space and defense applications.

Type 4 COPV highlighted at Hexcel’s booth at CAMX 2025. 

Meanwhile, Syensqo unveiled a breakthrough resin infusion technology qualified by the National Center for Advanced Technologies (NCAT). Marc Doyle, executive vice president for composite materials, highlighted the solution’s forgiving processing window, which enables the production of thick, complex components without exothermic risks. Targeting air mobility, defense and high-performance racing, this innovation democratizes access for smaller manufacturers by providing critical material specs without costly independent testing.

Yet, challenges loom. High material costs, even with reduced manufacturing complexity, remain a hurdle, as does the need to scale these technologies for commercial aerospace. The push for high-rate production also raises questions about quality control and long-term reliability in demanding applications. As aerospace continues to prioritize weight savings and assembly efficiency, the industry must navigate these trade-offs to fully capitalize on these innovations.

Filament-wound conduit enables low pull-through friction for long cable runs, supporting critical infrastructure.

In critical infrastructure, composites are carving out a vital role in addressing aging systems and modern demands. Westlake Corp. composites segment leader, Amitabh Bansal outlined a solutions-driven approach, focusing on lightweight materials for power transmission, data centers and infrastructure installation. Innovations like lightweight façade panels, GFRP rebars, conduits for critical infrastructure and composite piping for water and wastewater systems illustrate how composites can streamline installation and address structural burdens and longevity issues. “We don’t want just to sell a resin or a material,” Bansal stressed. “We want to bring the whole solution to the customer and solve a real problem.”

The opportunities in the infrastructure sector are immense, especially as global infrastructure needs escalate amid urbanization and climate challenges. Composites offer corrosion resistance and reduced maintenance compared to traditional materials like steel and concrete, aligning with sustainability goals. However, adoption faces significant barriers. High upfront costs, regulatory hurdles and a lack of widespread awareness among civil engineers and policymakers slow integration. Additionally, scaling production to meet infrastructure’s vast demands while maintaining cost-competitiveness remains a persistent challenge. Bridging the gap between innovation and implementation requires education, advocacy and strategic partnership.

Woven through the advancements in aerospace and infrastructure at CAMX 2025 was a broader theme of resilience. In a keynote address, futurist Sheryl Connelly challenged the composites community to prepare for uncertainty rather than predict — a sentiment that resonated deeply with an industry navigating supply chain disruptions, geopolitical shifts and sustainability mandates. Composites are uniquely positioned to address these global challenges, whether through lightweight, high-performance materials for next-gen aircraft or durable, eco-friendly solutions for critical infrastructure. Yet the path forward demands collaboration and a problem-solving mindset. CAMX 2025 wasn’t just a showcase of technology; it was a reminder of the human potential behind composites.

Source | Valence/Getty Images

Valence Surface Technologies LLC (El Segundo, California) has announced the acquisition of Foresight Finishing (Tempe, Arizona). Under difficult-to-obtain approvals, Foresight provides precious metal surface treatment to prominent manufacturers within the North American defense and commercial aerospace supply chain.

Founded and operated by Casey and Joe Weizel since 2010, Foresight has built a strong reputation for delivering complex, high-quality metal finishing services to mission-critical defense and commercial aerospace electronics. The company’s core capabilities include very tight-tolerance precious metal gold, silver, nickel, tin and palladium plating using vibratory, rack, selective and barrel application technologies. The company employs approximately 110 team members and operates out of a single facility in Tempe, with capacity for future growth and expansion.

David Camilleri, chairman of Valence, notes that this acquisition is the company’s second in just three months (read “Valence Surface Technologies Acquisition Enhances Aerospace Surface Treatment Capabilities”) and improves its position as a provider of complex surface treatment to the aerospace and defense supply chain. Camilleri highlights Foresight’s long-standing customer relationships, industry-leading quality and lead times, as well as its proximity to customers, as a strategic fit within Valence. This move provides a new regional presence in the aerospace and defense electronics segment of Valence’s business.

Casey Weizel and the existing management team and workforce will remain with the organization as part of the transaction. Alfredo Graff, current operations manager at Foresight, will advance to the role of general manager of the operation. Weizel says that the partnership with Valence will support Foresight’s continued growth and development, aligning with the company’s commitment to stakeholders, including customers and employees.

Valence is majority-owned by ATL Partners and British Columbia Investment Management Corp., which invested in the company in June 2019 to accelerate strategic initiatives and support continued expansion. Foresight represents the 12^th add-on acquisition for Valence since inception, and the company plans to pursue additional merger and acquisition opportunities in North America and Europe.

KAL Capital Markets LLC served as the exclusive financial advisor, and Polsinelli served as legal counsel to Foresight Finishing. Goodwin served as legal counsel to Valence.

Source | Lockheed Martin Skunk Works

On Oct. 28, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works (Palmdale, Calif., U.S.), in partnership with NASA (Washington, D.C., U.S.), successfully completed the first flight of the composites-intensive X-59 supersonic aircraft. 

The X-59 took off from Skunk Works’ facility at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, before landing near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The X-59 performed exactly as planned, verifying initial flying qualities and air data performance on the way to a safe landing at its new home.

The X-59 is designed to demonstrate the ability to fly at supersonic speeds while reducing the sonic boom to a gentle thump. In doing so, the X-59 aims to overcome one of the primary barriers to supersonic commercial flight, which is currently restricted over land due to noise concerns. The aircraft’s successful development and flight testing will inform the establishment of new data-driven acceptable noise thresholds related to supersonic commercial flight over land, paving the way for a new generation of supersonic aircraft that can efficiently and sustainably transport passengers and cargo twice as fast as aircraft today. 

Skunk Works will continue to lead the aircraft’s initial flight test campaign, working closely with NASA to expand the X-59’s flight envelope over the coming months. Part of this test journey will include the X-59’s first supersonic flights, where the aircraft will achieve the optimal speed and altitude for a quiet boom. This will enable NASA to operate the X-59 to measure its sound signature and conduct community acceptance testing. 

Source | ZeroAvia, Hybrid Air Vehicles

ZeroAvia (Hollister, Calif., U.S. and Kemble, U.K.) and Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV, Bedford, U.K.) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to partner on the development of a hydrogen-electric variant of HAV’s Airlander 10.

Airlander 10 is a hybrid aircraft that uses a combination of aerostatic lift, aerodynamic lift and vectored thrust, with a 10-ton payload and 4,000 nautical mile maximum range. The initial Airlander 10 will be powered by four diesel engines, providing an emissions reduction of up to 90% when compared with comparable capacity aircraft. Integrating ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric propulsion will deliver full zero-emission in-flight operations carrying 100+ passengers, as well as reduced maintenance costs.

ZeroAvia reports that its first generation 600-kilowatt hydrogen-electric powertrain, ZA600, has already passed several regulatory milestones, secured hundreds of pre-orders and signed up launch customer airlines who are working to embed the system into more traditional fixed-wing aircraft for lower cost and more environmentally friendly flight. The company has conducted flight testing of a prototype on board a 19-seat aircraft.

HAV says that Airlander 10 has ample space for hydrogen storage in its hull, making it an ideal option for adopting the first generation of certified hydrogen technologies that are already close to market entry — such as hydrogen storage, low-temperature PEM fuel cell power generation and electric propulsion systems that are well advanced toward certification. This partnership will build on HAV’s earlier R&D work to explore electric propulsion for Airlander.

As part of the agreement, the companies will also study the potential applicability of ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric technology to future larger aircraft developed by HAV, and assess planned Airlander 10 operations to define the hydrogen fuel infrastructure requirements.

“ZeroAvia has led the development of hydrogen-electric propulsion systems and made impressive progress commercially, technically and with regulators,” says Tom Grundy, CEO of HAV. “Our intention has always been to offer our customers a fully zero-emission variant of the Airlander, for efficiency and environmental reasons, and this partnership with ZeroAvia will help us in this direction.” 

“Airlander is another exciting airframe for line-fit of our powertrains as it can open up a whole new market in air travel due to its range, efficiency and ability to operate from almost anywhere,” says Val Miftakhov, founder and CEO of ZeroAvia. “Like ZeroAvia, HAV is an aerospace innovator with exciting manufacturing and growth plans for the U.K. that can deliver hundreds of well-paid jobs in different regions in the U.K. These are two businesses expanding U.K. footprints and manufacturing plans, with a broad array of strong use cases, including in the defense arena.”

ZeroAvia’s ZA600 hydrogen-electric engine. Source | ZeroAvia

On Nov. 6, ZeroAvia (Kemble, U.K. and Everett, Wash., U.S.) announced that its application to the Innovation Fund for a €21.4 million grant to support the introduction of hydrogen-electric aircraft has been selected for grant agreement preparation. The project will support the retrofit of 15 Cessna Caravan aircraft with ZeroAvia’s ZA600 hydrogen-electric engines and the establishment of the supporting airport hydrogen fuel technologies, with operations planned to commence in 2028. 

These zero-emission aircraft are planned to replace conventional kerosene-fueled turboprops on cargo routes and expected to see in excess of 95% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The project will also work to deliver hydrogen refueling and storage ​infrastructure at 15 airports in Norway, establishing what ZeroAvia says will be the world’s largest network of zero-emission commercial flights. The air operators for the network will be announced in due course.

The Operations to Decarbonize Interconnectivity in Norway (ODIN) project aims to validate the technical performance and economic case for utilizing hydrogen-electric aircraft in commercial operations, with a view to catalyzing further adoption in Norway, across the European Union (EU) and further afield.  

The project proposal was found to contribute to the objectives of the EU initiative “Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP)” and meets the requirements to receive the STEP Seal. The STEP Seal is a quality label awarded by the European Commission dedicated to boosting investment in critical technologies in Europe. ​ 

ZeroAvia’s ZA600 powertrain — the company see the future for composites in this application — uses fuel cells to generate electricity from hydrogen fuel without reliance on combustion, meaning that the only emission is low-temperature water vapor. ZeroAvia has already flight tested a prototype of this system, is now ground testing its final design for certification and is concurrently working with the UK Civil Aviation Authority and U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on certification programs related to the engine.  

“The EU Innovation Fund is notoriously competitive with applications needing to pass through rigorous assessment and demonstrate compelling evidence for near-term GHG reductions,” notes Val Miftakhov, founder and CEO of ZeroAvia. “This project will set an example by introducing a scaled network of hydrogen-electric aircraft operations across Norway without the typical associated environmental damage.” 

The Innovation Fund, financed by EU Emissions Trading System revenues, is one of the world’s largest funding programs for the demonstration of innovative low-carbon technologies. The Fund focuses on highly innovative clean technologies and big flagship projects with European added value that can bring significant emission and GHG reductions.