Source | Eve Reverse

Can natural fibers help make heavy-lift unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) silent? This is one of the questions Eve Reverse (Delft, Netherlands) will explore in the the AEERO (Adaptable and Efficient Electric ducted fan for Resilient lOgistics) project.

Supported by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency and the Eurostars program — part of the Eureka Network — AEERO will develop an integrated electric ducted-fan propulsion module for heavy-lift UAVs. Eve Reverse will focus on natural fiber and hybrid composite solutions aimed at reducing vibration and noise, while also contributing to a propulsion system with a lower environmental impact.

The project brings together:

• Eve Reverse — natural fiber and hybrid composite development.
• Acodyne (Copenhagen, Denmark) — project lead and developer of the electric ducted-fan system.
• Danish Technological Institute (DTI, Taastrup) — materials, design optimization and manufacturing.
• The Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) — aerodynamic analysis and design, noise reduction and testing.

By combining propulsion technology, aerospace engineering and advanced composite development, Eve and partners aims to take the system from an early prototype toward a validated propulsion module.

Learn more on LinkedIn.

High-temperature prepreg. Source | Teijin Carbon

Teijin Carbon America Inc. (Greenwood, S.C., U.S. and Rockwood, Tenn., U.S.) is focused around enabling high-rate composites manufacturing for next-gen aerospace and defense applications at CAMX.

Building on its aerospace heritage, Teijin Carbon highlights a portfolio of material solutions designed to support industrialized composites manufacturing, including rapid-cure prepregs, resin infusion systems and thermoplastic composite (TPC) technologies engineered for efficient processing, robust performance and compatibility with high-rate production environments.

A key focus is enabling structural performance while meeting the demands of modern manufacturing systems. Materials must deliver mechanical properties such as stiffness, strength and durability, while also allowing for reliable processing, reduced cycle times and scalable production. Teijin Carbon emphasizes application-driven material development, treating fiber, resin and process as an integrated system.

These capabilities are relevant to aerospace structures, urban air mobility (UAM), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), satellite systems and defense platforms, where lightweight design must be combined with cost-competitive and repeatable production.

Teijin Carbon also continues to expand its portfolio of carbon fiber materials and semi-finished products, supporting manufacturing approaches ranging from thermoset processing to thermoplastic welding and high-rate automated production systems.

A separate highlight is Tenax, a short carbon fiber made from repurposed fiber materials for reinforcing thermoplastic compounds. Designed to support circular economy goals, the product is intended to offer strong mechanical properties and a reduced CO₂ footprint, along with traceability through what the company describes as its first digital product passport (DPP) — a transparency tool aligned with the European Green Deal.

Source | Virtek

Virtek (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada) has developed Iris AI Composite Inspection, a vision-based quality control system for composite production in aerospace and automotive manufacturing.

The system uses edge-processing AI cameras that the company states can deliver inspection results in under 3 sec, providing feedback directly on the production floor. This allows issues, such as foreign object debris (FOD) or backing paper, to be detected without additional programming or manual intervention.

The inspection workflow logs each inspection in real time, creating a digital record that includes high-resolution images, serial number traceability and time-stamped data, supporting quality control, compliance and audit readiness. The system also connects to existing manufacturing systems through an API, with the aim of feeding inspection data into broader production workflows.

Iris AI Composite Inspection combines laser projection with AI-driven inspection, which Virtek positions as a way to both identify and help prevent defects in composites manufacturing processes.

Airbus Defence and Space (ADS) Air Power Global Supplier Conference in Ottobrunn, Germany. Source | AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings

AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings (Waukegan, Illinois) has received the Sustainability Future Award from Airbus Defence and Space (ADS, Arlington, Virginia) in recognition of the successful qualification and delivery of a new, chrome-free aircraft primer in just six months.

The award was presented during Airbus Defence and Space’s Air Power Global Supplier Conference in Ottobrunn, near Munich in May 2026. The Sustainability Future Award recognizes the successful collaboration between the AkzoNobel and ADS teams, which enabled the primer to be qualified and brought into production within six months while meeting Airbus’ stringent technical, operational and sustainability requirements.

The primer supports ADS’ wider sustainability ambitions by helping reduce the use of hazardous materials in aircraft manufacturing processes, while maintaining the corrosion protection and durability required for aerospace applications.

Within the program for Airbus, AkzoNobel demonstrated its commitment to rapidly scale production of its primer for multiple classes of aircraft and supply it globally as Airbus responds to future customer demand.

With ADS planning to increase production volumes across several aircraft programs over the next three years, AkzoNobel will continue to work closely with ADS to support production speed, quality and sustainability performance as output increases.

Source | Albany Engineered Composites

Albany Engineered Composites (AEC, Rochester, N.H., U.S.) and A&P Technology (Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.), known for its precision braided composite reinforcement technologies, are partnering to explore and develop advanced braided composite manufacturing solutions for both current and next-generation aerospace and defense applications.

The collaboration brings together two highly complementary manufacturing technologies — A&P Technology's braided composite architectures and AEC’s advanced resin transfer molding (RTM) expertise — to accelerate the industrialization of lightweight, highly integrated composite structures capable of supporting future production requirements for commercial and defense aircraft. Aerospace manufacturers are seeking larger integrated composite structures to reduce assembly complexity while enabling higher production rates. Braided composite preforms combined with automated RTM provides an attractive pathway toward scalable manufacturing.

“Future aerospace platforms demand manufacturing technologies capable of simultaneously improving performance, reducing recurring cost and scaling to production rates the industry has not previously achieved,” says Chris Stone, president of AEC. “By combining A&P Technology’s deep expertise in advanced braiding with Albany’s RTM capabilities, we are creating a force multiplier for our customers, accelerating the transition from innovative textile architectures to repeatable, production-ready composite solutions.”

“Together, we can offer composite solutions not only at enabling rate but also with enabling cost and performance benefits,” adds Andy Head, president of A&P Technology. “We look forward to meeting customer challenges together.”

The companies intend to collaborate on research, technology development, manufacturing process maturation and commercialization opportunities focused on purpose-designed braided composite structures for current and next-generation aeroengine platforms, commercial aircraft, advanced air mobility (AAM) blades and structures, collaborative combat aircraft (CCA), and solid rocket motor nozzles.

Source | ATLAS 

CompSTLar is leading the organization of the ATLAS Cluster event, “Wings of Change: Navigating the Future of Sustainable Aerostructures,” set for Sept. 17, 2026, at the Aragon Institute of Technology (ITA, Zaragoza, Spain). The 1-day workshop will draw together researchers, industry representatives and other stakeholders working across the composite aerostructures value chain. Though it is hosted in person, the event will also be livestreamed via MS Teams, extending participation to composites and aerospace professionals across Europe and beyond.

The ATLAS Cluster — Advanced Technologies for Lightweight Aerostructures and Sustainability — links five Horizon Europe projects focused on advanced composites and sustainable aerostructures: CompSTLar, TOSCA, PLEIADES, pAIramid and HyperMorpH. Organizers say the workshop is designed to gather researchers, industry representatives and experts to exchange knowledge and discuss the future of lightweight, sustainable and intelligent aerostructures. 

The day opens with a keynote from Inés Villa Martínez, cluster manager for the Aragonian Aerospace Cluster (AERA, Zaragoza, Spain), addressing priorities, challenges and pathways for the future of aerospace structures. Four themed sessions follow:

• Session 1: Cruising Towards Circularity — recyclable resin systems, conductive bio-based composites and multicycle recycling of vitrimers, including a keynote from Berta Gonzalvo, research director at AITIIP Technology Centre (Zaragoza, Spain), on enzymatic recycling of composite laminates.
• Session 2: Autopilot Assembly — automated fiber placement (AFP), machine vision inspection, photonic sensing and continuous carbon fiber additive manufacturing (AM) for aerospace parts.
• Session 3: Navigating the Digital Sky — digital twins, physics-informed AI, digital threads and multiscale reliability models supporting aerospace certification.
• Session 4: Landing Innovations — a roadmap discussion and a panel on integrating the five projects’ innovations for Europe’s future aircraft, followed by a networking session.

Registration details and the full agenda are available through ITA’s event page. 

Cassio 330. Source | VoltAero

Aircraft manufacturer Aura Aero (Toulouse, France) has acquired VoltAero (Médis, France). The merge of Aura Aero’s industrial ambition and international reach with VoltAero’s hybrid-electric propulsion systems expertise addresses the pursuit of aviation decarbonization.

In addition to the integration of 2,400 square feet of industrial facilities, the transaction provides Aura Aero with experience in hybrid-electric architectures and experimental aeronautical development, including design, system integration, testing, flight operations and data analysis. This expertise, accumulated by VoltAero over several years of work, finds its most concrete expression in the Cassio S, a hybrid-electric flying demonstrator.

Since the start of its flight testing in 2019, the Cassio S has completed 270 flights and covered approximately 25,000 kilometers under a variety of operating conditions. The program is supported by a clean sheet composite airframe, with partner Aero Composites Saintonge (ACS, Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan, France) handling prototyping and composite materials work, alongside aerospace design support, per Electrek’s flight test program report. In 2023, VoltAero scaled production with construction launch of a purpose-built final assembly facility at Rochefort-Charente-Maritime Airport, and signed a letter of intent for a second assembly and innovation hub in Sarawak, Malaysia in 2025.

Aura Aero itself uses composite construction across its aircraft programs. Its larger ERA program — a 19-seat hybrid-electric regional aircraft targeting up to an 80% reduction in CO_₂ emissions — uses a combination of composites and metal. Aura Aero has been building out composites manufacturing capacity to support ERA production, including expanding its composite workshop, integrating an automated fiber placement (AFP) robot and adding a large industrial curing oven, with Avel Robotics contracted for the wing and its carbon fiber composite structural components. The company is also building a new manufacturing plant in Florida to support U.S. production of the ERA aircraft.

Tekever uses carbon fiber prepregs and other composites in its weight-optimized autonomous unmanned aerial systems (UAS) including (bottom left, clockwise) the AR3, AR5, AR6 and future ARX platforms. Source | Tekever

Tekever (Lisbon, Portugal) has unveiled its AR6 family of heavy-lift autonomous aircraft and expanded its composites manufacturing partnership with iCOMAT (Bristol, U.K.) to support production of its existing AR5 unmanned system.

According to Tekever’s announcement, the AR6 expands the company’s autonomous portfolio into the heavy-lift class, positioned for civil applications such as logistics, medical support and disaster relief as well as military missions including casualty evacuation and crewed-uncrewed teaming. Designed and built in the U.K. with local SME partners, the AR6 delivers a U.K. sovereign solution for heavy lift autonomy, with production due to start by the end of 2026 in Tekever’s Swindon manufacturing hub.

Leveraging distinctive propulsion technology, the AR6 features a maximum takeoff weight of 700 kilograms and is designed to carry 200-kilogram payloads over distances of ≈500 kilometers — a step up from the roughly 100-kilogram and 1- to 5-kilometer range that Tekever says defines the current heavy-lift eVTOL market.

The company attributes this performance gain to digitally controlled hydraulic pump and motor technology developed by Flowcopter (Edinburgh, Scotland) in place of the battery and electric-motor systems that typically constrain payload in larger-sized eVTOL platforms. “If you try to use conventional hydraulics, you do not have enough control and you lose a lot of energy,” explains Karl Brew, Tekever U.K.’s managing director, in a July 2026 Aviation Week article. He claims that with Tekever’s approach, "You save all your energy because you’re not losing it in the system."

Use of composite materials

“Tekever is using the best composite materials available — some developed locally, some sourced from further afield,” says Tiago Nunes, Tekever's platforms director, in an interview with UncrewedSystems.com about the company’s AR3 platform, first launched in 2022. He adds that every part of the aircraft — including wings, fuselage and other structural components — has been optimized to eliminate unnecessary weight and complexity.

Tekever uses autoclave-cured carbon fiber-reinforced prepregs because they provide an optimal fiber–resin ratio, but with a focus on putting material only where it’s needed. He notes that carbon fiber is a strong reflector of radar energy because of its electrical conductivity, while potential alternatives such as glass and aramid fiber are better in this respect but have lower strength-to-weight ratios. “Where we need radio frequency transparency, we’ll use glass fiber,” says Nunes. “For components that need impact resistance or specific wear properties, we’ll go with aramid. Every material decision is driven by the function of the part in question.”

Tekever says it consider resins as elements of the prepreg material, which it chooses based on the performance needed from the composite and how it works with the company’s autoclaves and processing parameters. Also in the UncrewedSystems.com report, Ricardo Mendes, Tekever’s CEO, adds that composites remain central to the company’s approach, even as it explores next-generation materials, including metamaterials now at technology readiness level (TRL) 7.

Manufacturing expansion

That materials focus runs alongside Tekever's manufacturing expansion. On July 22, Tekever and iCOMAT (Gloucester, U.K.), known for its rapid tow shearing (RTS) fiber placement process — announced an expanded partnership to support production and industrialization of the AR5 unmanned aerial system. The deal falls under OVERMATCH, Tekever’s £400 million industrial expansion program aimed at scaling manufacturing capacity and strengthening the U.K.’s sovereign defense industrial base. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding to explore further collaboration on composites manufacturing, drawing on iCOMAT’s Gloucester and Swindon, U.K. operations (see these facilities in March 2026 news on iCOMAT’s expansion into the U.S.). Both companies are backed by the NATO Innovation Fund.

“Delivering autonomous capability at scale requires a resilient industrial ecosystem,” says Scott McClelland, deputy director of Tekever’s defense unit, adding that partnerships like the one with iCOMAT help strengthen the U.K. supply chain as OVERMATCH expands production.

Evangelos Zympeloudis, CEO of iCOMAT, says the companies’ shared backing from the NATO Innovation Fund positions them to show how technology developers and advanced manufacturers can scale capability together, and that iCOMAT expects its role to grow as AR5 production volumes increase and future Tekever platforms are developed.

Source | Avanco Composites

Avanco Composites (Herford, Germany) has developed a press-fitted carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) retaining sleeve designed to secure permanent magnets in high-speed rotors without adhesives or added thermal stress. The company demonstrated the design in a project with partner WEKA Elektrowerkzeuge (Neubulach, Germany), and positions the sleeve for rotor applications spanning the automotive, industrial and aerospace sectors.

In a LinkedIn post, Avanco reports that the sleeve’s proprietary press-fitting process generates high preload against the rotor, securing the magnets and preventing lift-off at high rotational speeds. The process introduces no thermal stress during assembly and requires no adhesive bonding to hold the sleeve in place, with the design suited to rotor diameters ranging from 30 to 300 millimeters. Learn more on Avanco’s LinkedIn page.

Source: Nikon Advanced Manufacturing

Beehive Industries, an American manufacturer of advanced propulsion systems for uncrewed aerial defense applications, has announced a multi-unit purchase of NXG 600E metal additive manufacturing systems from Nikon SLM Solutions, a unit of Nikon Advanced Manufacturing. The self-funded investment equips Beehive with ultra-large-format printing capacity that is currently limited in the domestic market.

The NXG 600E is the largest machine manufactured by Nikon SLM Solutions. Each system features a build envelope of 600 × 600 × 1,500 mm and twelve 1-kW lasers, designed for high-throughput serial production of large metal components. Beehive is operating one machine dedicated to Constellium's Aheadd CP1 aluminum and a second dedicated to Ti 64 (Ti-6Al-4V), enabling the company to manufacture whole vehicle bodies, large substructures for satellites and other large components for aerospace, defense and space customers.

Both CP1 aluminum and Ti 64 are widely used in defense, modern space and aerospace manufacturing, particularly paired with additive manufacturing. The addition of these systems is designed to solidify Beehive's vertically integrated engineering, additive manufacturing and testing capabilities, promoting rapid, efficient access to domestic serial production for mission-critical components.

"There is a heavy overlap between the customers who rely on Beehive's propulsion solutions and those who require advanced aerospace printed solutions," says Darius Ehteshami, chief operations and finance officer at Beehive Industries. "By investing proactively in these machines, Beehive is positioned to provide aerostructures and parts that enable our customers to fly higher and fly faster. This is Beehive doubling down on our history of large-format additive manufacturing, supporting our customers in both the aerospace and defense area and in space."

"Manufacturers supporting today's defense programs require production technology that can scale quickly and reliably," says Hamid Zarringhalam, CEO and general manager of Nikon Advanced Manufacturing. "Beehive Industries has built an impressive business around advanced propulsion and aerospace manufacturing, and we're proud to support their continued growth with the NXG 600E platform. Our companies are deeply committed to enabling and scaling the defense industrial base, and this represents a key step in delivering the advanced manufacturing capabilities that are crucial to the United States and our allied partners."

"This investment marks the natural evolution of our company, seamlessly carrying our legacy of large-format expertise forward into the next generation of manufacturing for our external parts customers across the space, defense and aerostructures sectors," says Jonaaron Jones, president of additive parts sales at Beehive Industries.

The announcement follows close on the heels of Beehive’s recent acquisition of two Ohio machine shops for further vertical integration of its metal part production capacity. 

Material placement alternative for full coverage by FPP (right) in relation to a “close to geodesic” AFP placement (left). Source | Cevotec

For decades, automated fiber placement (AFP) has been the benchmark for automated composite layup in aerospace manufacturing, reports Cevotec (Unterhaching, Germany), the developer of fiber patch placement (FPP) technology. But, says the company, not every composite part is well suited to AFP.

“As geometries become more three-dimensional, radii tighten or multiple materials must be combined within a single layup, the strengths of AFP can become its limitations,” explains Thorsten Groene, CEO and co-founder of Cevotec in a LinkedIn post. He points to a familiar industry pattern as a result: automation projects stall, manual layup persists and production scalability remains a workforce bottleneck.

In a recent article, Cevotec raises the question of whether AFP is being asked to solve problems outside its original design intent. The company proposes an alternative it calls robotic lamination, enabled by FPP, in which robots place, drape and conform composite plies — maintaining required fiber orientation across complex 3D geometries — rather than requiring the part to adapt to the process.

The article lays out where AFP remains the more suitable automation method and where robotic lamination may open up automation opportunities previously considered impractical. Topics covered include:

• Why tight radii, double-curved surfaces and multi-material sandwich layups — combining prepreg skins, core materials such as Nomex honeycomb or PMI foam, and adhesive film interlayers — push AFP toward its operating limits.
• How FPP’s patch-based placement approach is designed to produce more uniform laminate thickness and localized fiber-orientation control on complex geometries compared with continuous tape placement.
• Results from a horizontal tail plane (HTP) fairing demonstrator built under the ACoSaLUS project, which Cevotec reports showed a 25% reduction in deflection under line load compared with a serial reference part, alongside roughly a 5% increase in composite skin mass 
• Cevotec’s continued development of robotic lamination, including placement trials on steep-edge, sandwich-core taper geometries with taper angles of 30° and 45°

For the full technical breakdown, including figures illustrating AFP gap-coverage strategies versus FPP patch placement, read Cevotec’s original article.

Read more Cevotec coverage on CompositesWorld.

Climate Impulse's Bertrand Piccard and Raphaël Dinelli. Source | fannyLoison

In a significant endorsement, Stéphane Séjourné, executive VP of the European Commission and Commissioner for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, has granted the European Commission’s official patronage to Climate Impulse. Led by explorer Bertrand Piccard and composite materials engineer Raphaël Dinelli, the project aims to achieve the world’s first non-stop, zero-emission flight around the globe in 2030, powered entirely by green hydrogen. The EU’s endorsement demonstrates the bloc’s drive to pair climate leadership with industrial strength.

The pioneering project announced in 2024 aims to transform the aviation sector and beyond by offering innovative solutions in areas considered hard to decarbonize. Just in February 2026, engineers performed a full-scale structural test of the aircraft wing’s main spar, the “backbone of Climate Impulse.” Climate Impulse is backed by its main partners, Syensqo, OCP Group and Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), and official partners Breitling and Orange.

At a time when global momentum on climate action is facing increasing headwinds, the EU’s endorsement sends a clear signal: Europe remains firmly committed to accelerating the transition to a climate-neutral future through innovation and clean technologies.

“Climate Impulse is a testament to European ingenuity: our ability to push the boundaries of science, engineering and innovation to make possible what seemed impossible just yesterday,” says Séjourné. “Europe has always progressed thanks to its pioneers, researchers and industrialists; this project is further proof of that.” 

“Climate Impulse is first and foremost an engineering challenge. To achieve a non-stop round-the-world flight powered by green hydrogen, we must integrate and optimise technologies that have never before been combined in an aircraft of this scale and mission profile,” says Raphaël Dinelli, co-founder and head of engineering, Climate Impulse. “The project requires advances in hydrogen storage, fuel cell integration, energy efficiency, lightweight composite materials and aircraft systems architecture.” 

The patronage serves as a catalyst for dialogue between institutional, scientific and industrial leaders, fostering the collaboration needed to accelerate a more sustainable aviation. It also underscores the urgency of modernizing aircraft fleets and advancing cleaner, more efficient heavy transport, while sending a clear signal to investors, innovators and partners across the continent: Europe stands behind the pioneers who open new paths.

Source | CompSTLar

The EU-funded CompSTLar project has reached a manufacturing milestone, with partner Aimplas (Valencia, Spain) successfully producing continuous graphene-enhanced unidirectional (UD) carbon fiber tapes at laboratory scale. The consortium sees this as a step forward in the development of multifunctional thermoplastic composites (TPC) for aerospace applications.

CompSTLar, coordinated by Aimen Technology Centre (O Porriño, Spain), is a Horizon Research and Innovation Actions project that is advancing the design, manufacturing, maintenance and recycling of high-performance composite aerostructures for next-gen aircraft (February 2025 – July 2028). Within that broader effort, Aimplas is developing the UD tapes using graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), graphene/carbon nanotube hybrid nanofillers and a Victrex (Cleveleys, U.K.) LMPAEK matrix, with the goal of producing multifunctional composites with enhanced electrical conductivity and susceptibility to laser irradiation.

According to the project’s latest LinkedIn post, processing temperature proved to be a critical variable during manufacturing trials. At approximately 400°C, the material became too viscous for adequate fiber impregnation. Reducing the temperature to approximately 330°C yielded a stable process with acceptable fiber wetting. Partners note that elevated temperatures may affect the polymer matrix — particularly in the presence of graphene-based additives — and that understanding this behavior is considered key to eventual scale-up.

Now at technology readiness level (TRL) 3-4, the project’s next steps include evaluating higher nanofiller contents, assessing their impact on electrical performance and conducting automated tape placement (ATP) trials.

For more information, Pablo Romero Rodríguez, Aimen project coordinator, summarizes the last 18 months of the project in this Q&A. Also read more about the project on CW.

CubCrafters VP Brad Damm flies the new Carbon Cub ULT over the pine-covered foothills of Washington’s Cascade Mountains during flight testing near the company’s headquarters in Yakima. Source | CubCrafters

Aircraft manufacturer CubCrafters (Yakima, Wash., U.S.) has announced Carbon Cub ULT, a turboprop-powered evolution of the company’s popular Carbon Cub UL platform. It is designed to combine the simplicity and efficiency of modern sport aviation with the smooth power and reliability of turbine technology. 

“The Carbon Cub ULT represents some of the most advanced engineering work ever undertaken at CubCrafters,” says Patrick Horgan, president and CEO of CubCrafters. “Bringing together regenerative turbine technology, full FADEC controls, lightweight composite construction and our proven STOL capability into a practical backcountry aircraft demanded an incredible amount of focused innovation and refinement from our team.” The Carbon Cub UL platform uses prepreg carbon fiber in floorboards, seat bases and cowling.

Notably, the Carbon Cub ULT is powered by a TurboTech TP-R90 regenerative turbine engine, which enhances the aircraft’s smoothness, operational efficiency and fuel economy. The FADEC system automatically manages fuel flow, ignition, engine temperatures and propeller operation throughout the start sequence and flight envelope, eliminating many of the procedures traditionally associated with piston and turbine aircraft.

The Carbon Cub ULT is also said to be the first U.S.-manufactured turboprop aircraft eligible to be flown by sport pilots under the FAA’s new MOSAIC regulations.

The aircraft has been undergoing active flight testing at the company headquarters in Yakima, where the program continues to validate performance and refine the aircraft ahead of its public debut. CubCrafters will officially showcase the Carbon Cub ULT this summer, with initial customer deliveries expected in 2027.

Source | Getty Images

Lincoln Composite Materials Inc. (LCM, Huntington Beach, Calif., U.S.), a manufacturer of prepregs and structural film adhesives for aerospace and defense applications, contends that the Pentagon’s current speed-to-scale push has centered on prime contractors and Tier 1 part producers while overlooking the qualified specialty material suppliers that ultimately determine how fast production can expand. In an article on the subject, the company argues that acquisition policy must recognize where defense production capacity actually originates, which is further upstream rather than final assembly.

LCM points to the war in Ukraine as evidence that modern conflict consumes munitions faster than the U.S. and its allies can replace them, an experience it says has accelerated acquisition reform and industrial mobilization efforts. Still, the company notes that current reforms rarely extend to the point of origin for production readiness, which include prepregs, structural film adhesives, bonding primers, specialty metals, rare earth materials, batteries and electronics.

“In many aerospace and defense applications, materials are not interchangeable commodities,” LCM says. Because many of these inputs are governed by engineering drawings, qualification histories and certification requirements rather than treated as interchangeable commodities, adding capacity often requires engineering validation well before new production becomes available.

To close that gap, the company recommends that acquisition teams evaluate upstream material readiness during the materiel solution analysis and analysis of alternatives phases, alongside cost, schedule and technical performance — essentially assessing qualified second sources, lead times, shelf-life constraints and a supplier’s ability to expand capacity. The company also argues that small- and mid-sized specialty material manufacturers cannot responsibly invest in additional capacity based on generalized urgency alone, and instead need predictable demand signals to justify workforce, equipment and inventory investments. 

The full article is available for download here.

Source | Getty Images

Strata Manufacturing PJSC (Strata, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates), a wholly owned company of Mubadala Investment Co., and Embraer (São José dos Campos, Brazil), have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that establishes a framework for evaluating Strata’s potential supply of advanced composite material aerostructures for Embraer’s commercial aircraft programs. Under the agreement, the companies will collaborate on evaluating work packages for the E2 family of commercial jets, following a structured schedule of technical, commercial and contractual goals.

In addition to the E2 program, the MOU outlines the joint intention to explore cooperation opportunities in other Embraer aircraft platforms.

The agreement reinforces Strata’s continued expansion in the global aerospace sector and aligns with its strategy of strengthening long-term partnerships with leading aircraft manufacturers. The initiative also supports the company’s vision of positioning the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a globally competitive hub for advanced aerospace manufacturing.

Source | FACC AG

FACC (Ried im Innkreis, Austria) showcases its £120 million investment to expand its Plant 3 in St. Martin im Innkreis, Austria. At the company’s Annual General Meeting, FACC CEO Robert Machtlinger reflected on the company’s remarkable financial year and presented its path forward, including how it is shaping the future. A video shows highlights in the company’s recent LinkedIn post.

Initially reported by CW in March 2026 (see “FACC to set up additional high-tech plant by 2029, doubling current aerostructure capacity”), this latest release notes 40,000 square meters of highly automated production capacity will be added to FACC’s Aerostructures division via the Plant 3 expansion, including technological capabilities such as:

• Next-gen systems. Scaling up production with state-of-the-art automated tape laying (ATL) and automated fiber placement (AFP) technologies.
• Digital twins. Fully integrated digital workflows ensuring maximum precision.
• Advanced automation. Deploying cutting-edge pick-and-place cells and automated cobot surface prep and painting systems.

“We are operationally preparing for the growth ahead,” says the company’s post, “efficient, scalable and highly competitive.”

Read more: CW’s conversation with CEO Robert Machtlinger in its Tour of Plant 6 in Croatia.

Source | Getty Images

Farnborough 2026 opened with the kind of energy the industry had been waiting for. Day one alone produced an estimated $48.8 billion in aircraft and engine business, and the momentum carried through the week — Vertical Aerospace flew its first public full-scale eVTOL demonstration, Archer and Anduril unveiled dual-use commercial/defense variants of a shared VTOL platform and the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) used the show as a launchpad for a new national framework aimed at securing the U.K.’s slice of the composites market.

Breaking Defense’s closing recap pointed to an intensifying collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) race and a strong showing of munitions on the floor as some of the other bigger storylines competing for attention. By the time the show wrapped, tallies of firm aircraft orders landed roughly in line with the last Farnborough in 2024 — all in all solid business, if a bit shy of some of the more optimistic pre-show forecasts.

CompositesWorld recaps some of the key composites-focused announcements that came out of the show below:

Albany Engineered Composites, A&P Technology partner for large braided composites industralization

Albany Engineered Composites Inc. (AEC, Portsmouth, N.H., U.S.) and A&P Technology (Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.) are partnering to explore and develop advanced braided composite manufacturing solutions for current and next-gen aerospace and defense applications. The collaboration brings together two highly complementary manufacturing technologies — A&P’s braided composite architectures, and AEC’s resin transfer molding (RTM) manufacturing expertise.

“We are creating a force multiplier for our customers, accelerating the transition from innovative textile architectures to repeatable, production-ready composite solutions,” says Chris Stone, president of AEC.

Collaboration will include research, tech development, manufacturing process maturation and commercialization opportunities focused on purpose-designed braided composite structures for current and next-gen aeroengine platforms, commercial aircraft, advanced air mobility (AAM) blades and structures, collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) and solid rocket motor nozzles.

NCC takes Vertical eVTOL propellers from concept to rate-ready manufacture

Vertical Aerospace Valo blades. Source | NCC

Vertical Aerospace (London, U.K.) has completed its first public demonstration flight of a full-scale wing tilt-rotot electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft at Farnborough. It was flown using composite propulsion blades designed in conjunction with innovation partner NCC (Bristol, U.K.).

NCC worked alongside Vertical’s engineering team to design the Gen 2 composite rotor blades flown on the full-scale prototype, and elements of the fuselage. The prototype blades required a fundamentally new approach, as they must lift the aircraft vertically before transitioning seamlessly into wingborne flight, while remaining lightweight, aerodynamically efficient and resilient to certification requirements such as bird strike. 

Read the full case study for more information.

Archer Aviation introduces Halo, commercial variant of the dual-use VTOL developed with Anduril

Archer Aviation (Santa Clara, Calif., U.S.) is introducing Halo — the commercial variant of a jointly developed dual-use platform built to serve defense and commercial applications. In parallel, defense company Anduril (Costa Mesa, Calif., U.S.) unveiled Thunder, the defense variant of the platform, at Farnborough. The two variants share the same airframe, hybrid powertrain and core systems, with configurable payload depending on mission requirements.

The Halo VTOL platform. Source | Archer Aviation

This dual-use autonomous VTOL aircraft platform, highlighted by its Halo (commercial) and Thunder (defense) variants, builds on 8 years of eVTOL development and flight testing by Archer. It features a clean sheet design, with a hybrid-electric powertrain and optimum-speed tiltrotors.

Designed for low-cost, high-volume production using commercial supply chains, the platform behind Halo and Thunder is built to support broad deployment, rapid production and the scale commercial and defense markets require.

Halo brings with it long range and high speed, heavy payload, series hybrid-electric propulsion and is autonomous. Its potential spans a range of commercial opportunities, Archer notes, including for offshore energy, freight, humitarian and medical cargo, and maritime. As part of this demand, Marubeni Aerospace Corp. (Tokyo, Japan) has been announced as the strategic launch partner of the Halo system.

Read more at the Archer Aviation website.

Farnborough aircraft orders top 300

Lessors and carriers — including SMBC Aviation Capital, Riyadh Air and Philippine Airlines — announced a flurry of narrowbody and widebody orders during the air show’s run, keeping pace with 2024’s totals despite ongoing supply chain constraints.

Boeing

• SMBC Aviation Capital: 100 737 MAX jets: 60 737-10s and 40 737-8s
• Riyadh Air: Exercised options for 28 787 Dreamliners from a 2023 order, converting 20 of those to the larger 787-10 variant
• Philippine Airlines: Up to 20 787-10 Dreamliners (15 firm, five options)
• AerCap (lessor): 15 787 Dreamliners, deliveries scheduled through 2033
• Uganda Airlines: four 737 MAX 8s and four 787-9 Dreamliners (the carrier’s first-ever Boeing order)
• MSC Air Cargo: five 777-8 freighters
• Luxair: two 737-10 aircraft

Airbus

• SMBC Aviation Capital: 100 A320neo Family aircraft: 65 A321neos and 35 A320neos
• Riyadh Air: six additional A350-1000s, bringing its total firm A350-1000 commitment to 31 jets
• Philippine Airlines: nine A350 aircraft, plus purchase rights for five more
• Shohin Airlines (Tajikistan): four A320neo Family aircraft

Embraer

• Fuji Dream Airlines (Japan): two E175 regional jets
• Abra Group (South America): 20 E2 aircraft, Embraer’s first order from this airline group
• Binter (Spain): five E2 aircraft

Comac

• Air Cambodia: 20 C909 regional jets, a firm order making Air Cambodia the first foreign flag carrier to formally commit to the C909 platform.

SkyDrive eVTOL company partners with Kineco to manufacture composite aerostructures

Source | Kineco, SkyDrive

Indian aerospace composites manufacturer Kineco Ltd. (Goa) has formed a strategic partnership with compact eVTOL aircraft developer SkyDrive Inc. (Toyota, Japan). Under the agreement, Kineco will develop and manufacture high-performance composite aerostructures for SkyDrive’s production aircraft, the SkyDrive (Model SD-05), marking a critical step forward in SkyDrive’s transition from prototype demonstration to scalable mass production. SkyDrive is targeting full-scale commercial operations by 2028. 

Kineco’s support will be full-scope, spanning tool design, prototype development, certification support and serial production readiness. The eVTOL aircraft’s production will leverage the company’s newly installed 3-× 12-meter Scholz Autoclave in Goa, ensuring capacity for future production scale-up.

This collaboration also marks Kineco Aerospace’s first dedicated production eVTOL program, representing a significant milestone in the company’s expansion into the rapidly growing AAM sector and reinforcing its position as a trusted global partner for next-gen aerospace platforms. 

Kineo has more than three decades of expertise in advanced composites, with an established track record supporting OEM and Tier 1 customers. Read more about the company on CW.

The complete press release is shared on the Kineco LinkedIn page.

Airbus U030 Flexrotor UAS operations begin with EMSA

Airbus Helicopters’ (Marignane, France and Donauwörth, Germany) tactical uncrewed aerial system U030 Flexrotor, verified to use composite materials, has officially started maritime surveillance operations in the Baltic Sea on behalf of the European Maritime Security Agency (EMSA).

Source | Amelie Laurin/Airbus Helicopters 

In December 2025, Airbus Helicopters was awarded a €30 million framework contract with the EMSA to provide remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) services for multipurpose maritime surveillance across the European Union, with sub-contractor operator Extensee (Paris, France). Operations started after a series of successful test flights to validate technical and regulatory milestones ahead of the entry into service, and to support operator handover to Extensee.

The first operational deployment began in July 2026 in the Baltic region (covering Estonia, Latvia and Finland), marking the entry into service of the U030 Flexrotor under EMSA service and supporting national authorities with maritime surveillance. 

The system supports coast guard functions including search and rescue, fisheries control, environmental monitoring and the detection of illicit maritime activity.

Learn more via the Airbus website.

FACC expands composites production in India with partner Kineco Aerospace

FACC (Ried im Innkreis, Austria) is expanding its cooperation with Kineco Aerospace (Goa, India) to a second work package of composite components for FACC’s customer Airbus. The components will be produced in India, comprising several thousand parts per year, with serial production scheduled to start by the end of 2027. The step follows the completion of a qualification milestone with Airbus. The cooperation builds on the long-term supply-chain agreement signed by the two companies at the Paris Air Show in 2025. It is part of FACC’s commitment to supporting the growth of India’s aerospace ecosystem by developing industrial capabilities with long-term partners.

Read “FACC agreements with Rolls-Royce, Tata and Kineco expand its global backlog, footprint in India”

“India is becoming an increasingly important part of the global aerospace industry, and our strategy is to develop industrial capabilities there with trusted, long-term partners,” says Andreas Furthmayr, EVP aerostructures, FACC. “Kineco has already demonstrated the standards we require, and this second work package reflects the confidence we have built together. We are not sourcing from a market — we are building capabilities with partners, and growing with them as India’s aerospace ecosystem develops.”

Park Aerospace to Build Advanced Composites Facility at Tulsa International Airport

Tulsa International Airport (TUL) has secured another major aerospace tenant with Park Aerospace Corp. (Newton, Kan., U.S.) selecting the airport’s North Development Area for an aerospace composites manufacturing expansion.

The company plans to invest approximately $65 million to construct an advanced composite materials manufacturing facility on 18 acres at TUL. Construction is expected to begin soon, with the facility anticipated to be completed in 2028. Once operational, the facility is expected to employ more than 100 people.

Read the full release.

Sikorsky Nomad 100 with composite wing completes initial flight test phase

Sikorsky’s Nomad 100 built for the DARPA EVADE program undergoes initial flight testing. Proprietary visuals are concealed. Source | Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company

Sikorsky (Stratford, Conn., U.S.), a Lockheed Martin company, has completed initial ground and flight testing of its Nomad 100 uncrewed aerial system (UAS) in collaboration with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Early VTOL Aircraft Demonstration (EVADE) program.

Why does it matter? The milestone marks another step forward in delivering high-performing uncrewed systems to servicemembers operating in rapidly evolving, contested environments. Also of note is the Nomad 100’s wing, which is reported to be based on the Nomad 50 demonstrator’s 10.3-foot composite wing. Next, Sikorsky will advance Nomad 100 through an intensive flight test campaign at a government facility, replicating a host of multirole Nomad 100 missions.  

The Nomad 100 is a variant of Sikorsky’s novel rotor blown wing architecture, delivering the vertical lift and hover capabilities of a helicopter with the speed, range and endurance of a fixed-wing aircraft. The twin prop-rotor system enables vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), hover, cruise on the wing, and runway independent operations in all weather conditions across land and sea.

Read more about the aircraft here.

Joby advances with Virgin Atlantic, aims for commercial flight by end of 2026

Source | Joby Aviation

Joby Aviation Inc. (Santa Cruz, Calif., U.S.) and Virgin Atlantic (London, U.K.) have signed a definitive, multiyear commercial agreement, converting a partnership the companies first announced in 2025 into a binding framework to launch service for Joby’s composites-intensive S4 electric air taxi in the U.K.. The S4 airframe relies on carbon fiber-reinforced composite structures and Joby began producing composite propeller blades at its Dayton, Ohio, facility in October 2025 to support planned production of up to 500 aircraft per year (see Learn more below).

The agreement establishes Virgin Atlantic as Joby’s exclusive airline partner for air taxi service in the U.K. and builds on Joby’s existing partnership with Delta Air Lines (Atlanta, Ga., U.S.), which holds a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic, linking the three companies to advance faster, more convenient regional travel. Virgin Atlantic will integrate Joby’s service into its booking platforms, including its mobile app and website, allowing travelers to reserve air taxi connections alongside long-haul flights.

Learn more in the full release published to CW.

A DHL Boeing 777 freighter on static display forming the backdrop of the Farnborough International Airshow 2026. Source (All Images Unless Otherwise Mentioned) | Stewart Mitchell

The composites on display at the 2026 Farnborough International Airshow shared a common thread, in that the material itself was rarely the headline. What set one demonstrator apart from the next was the thinking behind it, how the fiber was placed, how heat and pressure were applied and how a design anticipated the loads, safety cases and production rates that determine whether a part ever reaches series production. In short, they continue to be key enablers.

Aerospace composite tides, aeroengines

Two main pressures influenced nearly everything on display. The first was the need for increased production rates. Combined narrowbody aircraft OEM announcements indicate that demand is more than 120 complete aircraft per month, and some electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) programs are gearing up to produce 650 per year from some manufacturers (read CW’s 2022 “We’re going to need a lot of propeller blades”). Traditional autoclave and prepreg processes alone cannot meet these higher demands. The second pressure is durability, which encompasses a wide range of concerns, including erosion, impact resistance, battery thermal runaway and recyclability broadly. These issues are viewed as structural challenges to be addressed rather than mere afterthoughts. Much of the exhibition showcased a supply chain poised to tackle both rate and durability simultaneously, focusing on representative hardware rather than just flat-panel samples.

CW also highlights several other developments and partnerships announced at Farnborough 2026 via this announcement roundup.

A cutaway of the Rolls-Royce UltraFan, its composite fan blades and composite fan case sitting ahead of the geared core that drives the high-bypass architecture. Source | Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce (London, U.K.) framed the commercial aerospace backdrop more plainly, describing narrowbodies as the single biggest industrial opportunity for the sector over the next half century; much of what was highlighted at Farnborough read as the supply chain preparing to answer it.

Rolls-Royce is addressing some of these needs through the use of composite materials for its aerogines’ largest-diameter rotating components — the intake fan blades — which sit in front of the geared core and power the high-bypass architecture of its new UltraFan family. Both the UltraFan 80 and UltraFan 30 models, designed for widebody and narrowbody aircraft respectively, feature what the company refers to as a CTi fan, which includes carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) blades that are protected by a titanium leading edge, all contained within a composite fan case.

The unducted bet

The largest single lever on an engine’s dynamic performance is its intake fan. GE Aerospace (Evendale, Ohio, U.S.)  showcased its one-third-scale model of the Open Fan propulsion concept at the event. This unducted design is being developed under the Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines (RISE) program, a collaboration led by CFM International (Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.), which is a 50-50 joint venture of GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines (Courcouronnes, France). 

By eliminating the nacelle, the Open Fan enables a larger fan, increasing the bypass ratio and propulsive efficiency while reducing drag. The RISE program aims to achieve more than 20% higher fuel efficiency than currently operating engines. This improvement is not solely due to the Open Fan design but rather a combination of the larger fan, a compact core and additional technologies. 

In the Open Fan architecture, both the variable-pitch fan blades and the outlet guide vanes — stationary components designed to straighten the airflow behind the fan — are made of CFRP and are fully exposed to the elements (see CW’s coverage of the Open Fan reaching preliminary design review).

GE Aerospace's one-third-scale Open Fan model with an unducted architecture is being matured under the CFM RISE program. 

An exposed, variable-pitch composite blade must withstand bird and debris strikes without the protection that a case would typically provide. Additionally, it needs to operate quietly, which is where GE Aerospace’s expertise in composite propellers becomes important. Its propeller division, Dowty Propellers (Gloucester, U.K.), is integrating its experience in composite blade design, retention and pitch actuation from open-environment propellers into the Open Fan blade root (read CW’s 2022 plant tour of Dowty Propellers). This is alongside the group’s knowledge of turbofan composite fans.

“How we integrate that intelligence is really what's revolutionary,” said Chelsey Levingston, senior business communications manager at GE Aerospace, speaking at the Farnborough International Airshow. “We have more than 300 million hours on turbofan composites, and another 50 million hours with composite propeller systems that already operate in open environments. Open Fan combines the best of turbofan and turboprop, so in terms of who has the most composite engine fan experience in the industry, it’s hard to beat."”

To date, RISE has completed approximately 500 test campaigns and more than 3,000 endurance cycles. CFM has confirmed the design reviews for the Open Fan and compact core modules recently, with plans for ground and flight tests scheduled for this decade. Much of this progress depends on advancements in simulation, as the behavior of a full-scale Open Fan has been modeled before the creation of any hardware. Additionally, within the design time, a lead for producibility has been designated to ensure that the laminate remains manufacturable as production rates increase.

“The modeling is way ahead of the hardware,” Levingston adds. “We’ve modeled a full-scale Open Fan in a digital environment on an aircraft wing to simulate turbulence, noise and other performance characteristics, and as we test hardware and feed the findings back, each design iteration improves. Without that supercomputing power, it would take us decades to advance this engine. It lets us reduce the design iteration time and introduce a whole new engine architecture in a single generation.”

Braided TPC propeller blades

Dowty's DigiProp, a thermoplastic composite (TPC) propeller blade braided at high rate with NCC for a lighter, recyclable part. 

Targeting smaller aircraft, Dowty showcased DigiProp, a thermoplastic composite (TPC) propeller blade developed through the £20 million Digital Propulsion program, which was completed in 2021. This program collaborated with three High Value Manufacturing Catapult centers: NCC (Bristol, U.K.) the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) at the University of Sheffield (Sheffield, U.K.) and the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC, Coventry, U.K.).

The program successfully industrialized the triaxial carbon fiber braiding of a thermoplastic preform, which consolidates much more quickly than the traditional autoclave curing process (also in CW’s Dowty plant tour). Additionally, since a thermoplastic matrix can be remelted rather than being permanently set through cross-linking, it opens up possibilities for recycling the blade at end of its life.

However, processing thermoplastics at high fiber volumes can be quite challenging. Thus, the success of this propeller sits in effectively managing the braiding and consolidation processes. Dowty presented the DigiProp as a pathway to creating lighter, more damage-tolerant blades that can be produced in higher volumes.

Vertical addresses eVTOL rotor blade challenge 

The blade problem takes on a new dimension in an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Vertical Aerospace's (Bristol, U.K.) second-generation Gen 2 VX4 propeller blade, developed in collaboration with NCC and currently in operation on the full-scale prototype, must function effectively across two distinct flight regimes. Since the VX4 is a winged aircraft, its forward rotors tilt from vertical mode for takeoff, hover and landing, to cruise mode for producing forward thrust for regular flight.

With these hybrid flight regimes comes hybrid design challenges. In comparison, a helicopter rotor is large and rotates slowly, while a turboprop blade is smaller and spins rapidly. The forward blade of the eVTOL is positioned between these two types. It must support the entire weight of the aircraft during hover and then act like a fixed-wing propeller once it is airborne. Importantly, the blade must remain quiet and lightweight for both modes of operation. 

Additionally, it is crucial that the blade does not shed any fragments that could hit another rotor or interfere with  flight control lines, as this poses a risk of cascading failures, which is a specific concern in distributed propulsion systems.

Conventional practices often increase strike tolerance by using extra thickness or by employing tougher, heavier laminates. However, this added mass is something an electric aircraft cannot afford, as every kilogram removed from the structure translates into increased battery capacity, range or payload. As such, the Gen 2 blade achieves its structural performance through the internal arrangement of reinforcement and the way impact energy is distributed throughout the structure, rather than from matrix toughness alone. NCC helped Vertical Aerospace develop this architecture after evaluating various concepts. 

The eVTOL aircraft blade was engineered for a single-shot cure, allowing it to be consolidated in one operation, which reduces part count, minimizes joints and lowers assembly variability. The design for manufacture process was conducted concurrently with a supplier selection process, resulting in production partnerships with U.K. companies, Rockwood Aerospace (Paignton, U.K.) and Polar Technology (Eynsham, U.K.). 

Vertical is constructing seven certification aircraft in the U.K. and aims to obtain type certification from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) by around 2028. Following certification, the goal is to ramp up production to more than 225 aircraft per year by 2030. Repeatable, rate-capable blade manufacturing then becomes a critical requirement or a limiting factor.

A drone rotor off the tool in under a minute

For drone blades, at the smallest scale of rotor scale, the manufacturing process shifts from layup to molding. TU Wien (Vienna, Austria) and injection mold machine manufacturer Engel (Schwertberg, Austria) have introduced the NeoBlade, an entirely automated, mass-produced TPC rotor blade created through injection molding. 

This blade features a tape sandwich structure. Continuous carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (CF/TPC, also known as CFRTP) tapes serve as the load-bearing outer skins. Positioned in the mold and held in place by vacuum, the reinforcement aligns precisely along the load paths, allowing material to be placed only where the structure needs it. A short fiber polypropylene compound is injected between the tapes to create a near-net-shape core that adheres to the skins through shared matrix chemistry. Additionally, this core is chemically foamed to reduce weight while maintaining the structural integrity of the section. During processing, the tapes and the injected core are combined within the same matrix, allowing them to fuse into a single consolidated part.

The NeoBlade from TU Wien and Engel, an injection molded TPC drone rotor with its noise-reducing serrations molded straight into the part. 

The intelligence of the process is embedded in the manufacturing cell and the blade itself.  Engel produces the blades on a tie-bar-less Victory 120 machine paired with an Easix six-axis robot. Serrated edges help to reduce broadband noise by around 3 decibels and are created using mold inserts. The system’s open clamp design provides the robot with sufficient space to strip the previous blade, place new tapes and remove the finished part, all within a cycle time of less than 60 seconds. 

This project is part of Austria’s Take Off program, with FACC (Ried im Innkreis, Austria) leading the composites sector among the partners. The initiative also explored the use of recycled carbon fiber compounds, resulting in a life cycle CO₂ reduction compared to equivalent thermoset processes. Multi-cavity tooling has been identified as crucial for achieving true volume production and though this research demonstrator still requires a final trimming step, it indicates a promising near-net-shape and automation-driven approach for producing small aerostructures.

Airframes at rate

The blade was a recurring characteristic at Farnborough 2026, but the panel was another focal point. In this case, the main question was how to lay down fiber quickly, accurately, and onto real geometries. ICOMAT (Bristol, U.K.) and NCC made progress here by showcasing the first 5-meter aerospace wing skin using rapid tow shearing (RTS). This wing skin was deposited directly onto complex 3D tooling, marking the largest and most significant aerospace validation of the process to date. 

RTS controls the fiber by shearing the tow width in-plane, rather than bending the tow path (see CW’s dive into RTS). This approach avoids the gaps and overlaps that conventional automated fiber placement (AFP) methods create when the deposition angle exceeds approximately ±30°. The defect-free steering of RTS allows wide material to follow curved load paths onto doubly curved surfaces, enhancing structural performance by aligning fiber with the loads. Additionally, RTS can achieve production speeds and is reported to be up to 10X faster than conventional methods.

A Cevotec fiber patch placement (FPP) skin built entirely from reclaimed aerospace prepreg offcut, which beat the original production part on weight and stiffness. 

Another automated placement method was showcased, demonstrating its applicability for  waste reduction, in addition to performance enhancement. In collaboration with NCC, Cevotec (Munich, Germany) used its fiber patch placement (FPP) technology — an Industry 4.0 automated layup system that robotically places discrete fiber patches — to create an aerostructure skin entirely from recovered aerospace wing offcuts. 

This redesigned part comprised 80% recovered waste and surpassed the original component in both weight and stiffness, because patch placement optimizes the arrangement of fibers to align with the local load field rather than nesting them for a roll. For a representative wing component, Cevotec reports that this method could reduce landfill waste from 16,200 kilograms to 4,400 kilograms annually and divert approximately £912,000 GBP ($1,223,000) worth of material each year into secondary products, effectively transforming manufacturing scrap into a high-quality feedstock (read more about FPP).

Archer's Midnight air taxi, shown here at the show, features a majority CFRP airframe conceived for aerospace allowables at automotive build rates. 

Addressing the challenge of achieving automotive production rates for entire primary structures is particularly complex, as highlighted by Archer Aviation's (San Jose, Calif., U.S.) Midnight air taxi. Approximately 25% of the aircraft's total mass consists of an airframe predominantly made from CFRP. This includes the fuselage, wings, empennage, rotor booms and propellers, which is typical for this class of aircraft where composites usually account for around 70% of material composition.

The material used throughout the aircraft is Hexcel (Stamford, Conn., U.S.) prepreg, selected for its consistent performance across different batches as well as its inherent properties. By sourcing the fiber and toughened epoxy from a single, vertically integrated supplier, consistency is enhanced, and the supply chain is streamlined, making it suitable for high-volume production.

The propeller blades are manufactured by FACC using HexPly M91 toughened epoxy reinforced with IM8 intermediate modulus carbon fiber. This choice is driven by the need for stiffness in a rotating structure that must maintain its aerodynamic shape across the disc; in this context, deflection becomes a key design consideration rather than ultimate strength. Standard modulus fiber is used in other areas of the eVTOL airframe, ensuring that the more costly materials are only applied where necessary according to load requirements (CW quantifies the composite-intensity of eVTOL airframes).

Multifunctional hybrid structures

A sectioned Plyform sandwich panel, its carbon fiber skins closing over a graded core with a solid laminate edge close-out. 

Optimized airframe panels perform multiple structural functions simultaneously. Plyform Composites (Varallo Pombia, Italy), part of the All Ways Group (Pianezza, Italy), showcased sectioned examples of how these panels are assembled. The company used Farnborough to celebrate AS9100 certification of its San Gilio plant, which was audited by Tüv Süd (Munich, Germany). Plyform also holds EN 9100 and NADCAP special process approvals, forming the quality system baseline that a composite SME must meet to supply mission-critical aerospace hardware.

In the cut samples exhibited at the show, CFRP face sheets are layered over a graded core. Aluminum honeycomb provides shear strength in high-load areas, while a lighter foam core is used in regions with less stress. An internal solid laminate web runs through the sandwich panel, acting as an internal spar. At the joints, potted metallic inserts secure the fasteners. One insert remains in place through a hard point in the section, while the core tapers down into monolithic close-outs at the edges of the panel. This design allows a single panel to bear the distributed aerodynamic pressure across its surface and the discrete point loads at its attachment points. Ensuring that this process is traceable and repeatable is what PlyForm’s certification milestone supports.

A different collaboration on display extended the multi-material approach into the drivetrain. Polar Technology is working with Independent Forgings and Alloys (IFA, Sheffield, U.K.), to combine closed-die metallic gear blanks with composite bodies, resulting in hybrid composite-metallic gears. The key innovation is a mechanical interface that eliminates the need for adhesive bonding between the two material systems, which is often the weak point in hybrid drivetrain components. 

This design allows for adjustable stiffness and achieves a mass reduction of up to 40% compared to an all-metal equivalent, thereby reducing rotating inertia. This improvement enhances efficiency and dynamic response without compromising durability. The applications targeted for this technology include aircraft accessory gearboxes, uncrewed aircraft propulsion, landing gear deployment and missile fin actuation.

This hybrid composite-metallic gear from Polar Technology and Independent Forgings and Alloys saves up to 40% in mass against an all-metal equivalent. 

Novel materials for EV battery protection

Within the theme of electric aviation, another key topic was electric system protection. Oerlikon (Pfaffikon, Switzerland) introduced a range of thin engineered composite barrier materials designed for electric vehicle (EV) battery packs. The goal is to apply insights from the automotive industry to the aerospace sector, particularly in battery enclosures for eVTOL and hybrid-electric programs as their energy storage capacities increase.

An Oerlikon HS918 barrier panel, its formed channels guiding venting gas away from critical battery components. 

These materials are functional technical textile composites specifically engineered to prevent thermal runaway in a single cell from spreading throughout the entire battery pack, a critical target for achieving zero thermal propagation in AAM. (Read more about aviation-specific composite battery systems, or take a broader look at the EV battery enclosure industry.)

Oerlikon’s range of materials are classified by duty grades. The heat shield grades vary in thickness from approximately 0.6 to 1.8 millimeters and can withstand continuous temperatures between 1000°C and 1400°C. Moreover, they can endure pre-event dielectric breakdowns of up to 18 kilovolts and feature hot-gas particle impact resistance that increases with thickness, lasting about 7-24 seconds. 

SafeVent grades, which are 0.8 millimeter thick, facilitate gas venting and protect busbars while providing insulation for voltages above 10 kilovolts per millimeter. These grades have tensile strengths ranging from 175-195 megapascals. A multifunctional cell separator offers thermal isolation up to 700°C and compensates for mechanical swelling of approximately 410 micrometers. This design helps absorb the changes in volume that occur during charge and discharge cycles, ensuring consistent energy density over the lifespan of the battery.

Oerlikon has tested an 0.8-millimeter busbar barrier, capable of providing arc protection at temperatures of up to 1000°C,according to IEC 61439-1 standards. All materials in this range carry a UL94-V0 flammability rating and feature mica-free, non-petroleum-based formulations.

Regulatory compliance is uniform across markets, adhering to standards such as UN GTR No. 20, China's GB 38031-2020 and Europe's ECE R100. Each of these regulations mandates a minimum time frame for occupants to escape before fire spreads. For airframe manufacturers designing composite battery enclosures, the key takeaway is that these thin, 3D-formable barriers offer effective protection without adding significant mass or packaging constraints.

Although applications varied, the composites technologies showcased at Farnborough 2026 had a unified theme across various applications: the materials’ ability to confer advantage, be it in weight, rate, power, performance, safety, sustainability or all of the above. Whether it was wide tape applied to 3D tooling, an injection cell producing a foamed-core rotor blade every minute, an eVTOL blade designed to channel impact energy effectively, or reclaimed prepreg outperforming the original material, the materials repeatedly showed their ability to meet the needs of an evolving industry and provide the innovation needed to enable the next generation of aircraft.The real advantage lay in the techniques used for their placement, curing, joining and protection.

Source | Firefly Aerospace

Firefly Aerospace (Cedar Park, Texas, U.S.) announced a $144 million NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract to deliver a rapid mission to the Moon with Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander, which uses composites in the structural panels, support struts and lander legs. This marks the company’s sixth contracted lunar mission to date with the goal of demonstrating repeatable access to the lunar surface on an accelerated timeline.

Targeted to launch in 2028, Firefly will design, build, test and deliver the mission in approximately 2 years, half the time of the historic Blue Ghost Mission 1, by using its proven Blue Ghost lander design and operations. For this mission, Blue Ghost will return to the Moon’s near side, similar to where Mission 1 landed, and deliver three NASA science instruments, including the laser retroreflector array (LRA) to enable precision laser ranging, the linear energy transfer spectrometer (LETS) to measure the radiation environment and the stereo cameras for lunar plume surface studies (SCALPSS) to further study plume-surface interactions during touchdown.

“This latest mission award will help prove that commercial lunar delivery can be rapid, repeatable and reliable — exactly what’s needed to enable a permanent lunar presence and support NASA’s Moon Base initiative and Artemis program,” says Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. “With amplified demand signal from NASA and commercial customers, Firefly extended its growth strategy from one annual Moon landing to multiple a year. We’re now using our proven lander, operational maturity, and expanded production capacity to meet this demand.”

Firefly is leveraging valuable flight data from its first successful lunar mission to enhance its Blue Ghost landers with optimized thermal systems and advanced operational procedures based on real mission experience. These incremental improvements are being integrated into a build-to-print lander, enabling faster production cycles without the need for extensive redesign between missions.

“We’re not reinventing the wheel with each mission,” adds Ray Allensworth, vice president of spacecraft at Firefly Aerospace. “We’ve templated our Blue Ghost design to cut our lunar delivery time in half, and we’re not stopping there. We’ll continue to improve that timeline as we scale up spacecraft production, execute on multiple missions and apply lessons learned from each mission.”

Following the company’s first successful Moon landing, Firefly’s other upcoming lunar missions include deliveries to the Moon’s far side, Gruithuisen Domes and south pole with Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander and Elytra orbiter as well as a recent subcontract to deliver NASA’s MoonFall drones above the lunar south pole with Elytra. Each vehicle will be built and assembled at Firefly new expansive spacecraft facility and cleanroom near Austin, Texas, enabling a more robust production line of lunar landers and orbital vehicles.

The agreement, supported by the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (NDMA), enables a joint development program to demonstrate the feasibility of producing a large-scale engine case using additive manufacturing. Development work will be led from GKN Aerospace's facility in Kongsberg, Norway, and will utilize GKN Aerospace's laser-directed energy deposition with wire (L-DED-w) process, a technology developed and matured over several years. The goal is to produce a full-scale component while maintaining compatibility and interchangeability with the current engine design.

The component is expected to be among the first of its kind at this scale within military engine applications.

According to the companies, additive manufacturing has the potential to increase supply chain resilience and improve production processes by reducing lead times, lowering material usage and increasing overall efficiency. The collaboration will assess these benefits in the context of future aerospace applications.

A first demonstrator component is expected to be ready by 2027, and the product certified by the end of 2028.

"This agreement reflects our continued focus on advancing technologies that support the long-term needs of the F135 program," says Chris Johnson, vice president of the F135 Program at Pratt & Whitney. "We appreciate the collaboration with GKN Aerospace as we explore new manufacturing approaches that contribute to future engine readiness."

A CAD rendering of the ASPIRE wingtip demonstrator with the upper skin removed, revealing the spanwise spars, chordwise ribs, aerodynamic skin panels and multi-bay root fitting at the fold hinge line. Source | GKN Aerospace

Somewhere in GKN Aerospace’s (Bristol, U.K.) Global Technology Centre, there is a composite technician hand-rolling carbon fiber prepreg into what are known as noodles. These are individual sections nearly a meter long, shaped into a slender, triangular cross-section to become a deltoid filler that occupies the three-way radius joint where a composite spar or rib mates with the skin it’s stiffening. The technique, for all its precision, is not meaningfully different from what it was 30 years ago.

“The manual aspects of fabricating the noodles and other composite aerospace parts carry a weight in production far beyond the obvious,” says Tony Lloyd, GKN Aerospace principal composite research engineer and ASPIRE technical lead. “A next-generation single-aisle [NGSA] aircraft will require between 1,000 and 2,000 meters of these noodles per airframe. If Airbus reaches its stated production ambition of between 60 and 100 single-aisle aircraft per month, hand-rolling becomes a genuine bottleneck as a single anachronism that holds back an otherwise advancing manufacturing system.”

The noodle, in other words, is a symptom. The underlying condition is the composite aerospace industry’s persistent dependency on manufacturing approaches conceived in a different production era — where fiber layups are locked into the classic 0°/±45°/90° quasi-isotropic conventions, autoclave pressure vessels are required for curing and manual preforming is necessary for geometries that automated deposition cannot easily reach. These defaults have produced extraordinary structures. They have also reached the practical limit of what they can offer in terms of production rate, structural weight and embodied carbon for the next generation of narrowbody aircraft.

The ASPIRE consortium partners, GKN Aerospace, iCOMAT, Carbon ThreeSixty, Lineat, Pentaxia, the University of Bath and program manager Axillium, are clustered across the south and midlands of the U.K. Source | GKN Aerospace

This is the problem ASPIRE (Advanced Structural with Product Integrated AiRframE) was established to address. Launched in May 2025 and running through April 2028, the £12 million program is led by GKN Aerospace and partly funded through the U.K.’s Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI, Bedfordshire), Innovate UK (Swindon) and Department for Business and Trade (London). Its five specialist partners — iCOMAT (Bristol, U.K.), Carbon ThreeSixty (Chippenham, U.K.), Lineat Composites (Chepstow, U.K.), Pentaxia (Derby, U.K.) and the University of Bath (Bath, U.K.) — each address a specific failure mode in the current composites manufacturing paradigm. What makes ASPIRE unusual is that all five technologies are being deployed simultaneously, against the same structural geometry, and tested under the same conditions so the cumulative effect can be measured rather than estimated.

Three variants, one test campaign

The structural backbone of ASPIRE is a set of three full-scale composite wingtip variants, all derived from the folding wingtip geometry that Airbus (Toulouse, France) expects to feature on its next single-aisle aircraft. This is a design that extends the total effective wingspan by approximately 10 meters while allowing the tip to fold for airport gate compatibility. Airbus has provided baseline load cases and geometric guidance while GKN Aerospace holds design authority for the ASPIRE project. All three variants will be structurally tested to ultimate load at GKN’s Isle of Wight test facilities, the standard aerospace certification threshold representing 1.5X the maximum in-service load, with results expected in late 2027 and early 2028.

Variant 1 is a bonded assembly using more traditional build and design methods currently seen in aerospace but with an optimized structural architecture specifically for bonding. The method for bonding draws on the outputs of MaBOND, a parallel U.K. program led by GKN, that is advancing automated bonding methods for primary structures. Bonded construction reduces fastener count and part complexity and, if it passes ultimate load testing in a primary structure context, meaningfully advances the regulatory acceptance of bonded joints in single-aisle aircraft.

Variant 2 represents the current state of the art. It is a quasi-isotropic co-infused resin transfer molding (RTM) structure built using automated preform deposition, digital twin integration and GKN Aerospace’s SmaRTM processing. This variant is believed to be the best available today using the automated RTM cell developed through the preceding ASCEND program (read CW’s “ASCEND program completion”). Pentaxia’s JouleTool self-heated mold is integrated at this stage, providing low-energy, self-heated tooling for automated 3D preforming of the wingtip skins.

Variant 3 is where the existing rulebook is set aside. Nonstandard fiber angles, enabled by iCOMAT’s rapid tow shearing (RTS) technology, replace the quasi-isotropic default in the skins and spars. Low-energy dry fiber forming feeds GKN’s SmaRTM process. Carbon ThreeSixty’s stitched deltoid noodles manufactured from recycled carbon fiber (rCF) aligned through Lineat’s aligned fiber forming technology (AFFT) process replaces the hand-rolled fillers. The University of Bath’s probabilistic analysis tools provide the structural design confidence that will be needed before any of this approaches a production aircraft.

Alongside the three wingtips, ASPIRE is developing an optimized wing movable in the form of a notional flap demonstrator. The flap advances fast-cure thermoset prepreg-manufactured structures with RTS-optimized skins, tailored fiber placed (TFP) brackets and low-energy, out-of-autoclave (OOA) curing molds, with a key program milestone being the achievement of TRL 6 for fast-cure thermoset press-cured composite ribs. This builds directly on GKN Aerospace’s experience producing A350 flaps at its Munich, Germany facility.

Stitching the noodle

Carbon ThreeSixty brings more than 6 years of dry fiber TFP preform manufacturing experience to the deltoid noodle challenge. In TFP, which is essentially computer-controlled fiber embroidery onto a backing layer, the machine deposits fiber tow along a user-defined path, stitch-fixing it to the substrate and building up a near-net-shape preform without the cutting waste of conventional ply-based methods. The process has been proven across a wide range of structural preform geometries. For the ASPIRE project, the deltoid noodle introduces a specific new constraint where three knife-edge vertices converge toward a near-zero radius, each of which must be filled completely and held dimensionally through the infusion cycle.

Carbon ThreeSixty's TFP-manufactured deltoid noodle shows the triangular cross-section and stitch pattern that fills the three-way radius joint between a composite spar web and its flanges (top). A common skin-stiffener construction in the CAD-rendered ASPIRE wingtip demonstrator (bottom) shows the deltoid noodle (in blue), which achieves a stable, precise deltoid filler for the joint between T-stiffeners and skin. Sources | Carbon ThreeSixty (top) GKN Aerospace (bottom)

“In previous applications, we’ve been doing all sorts of different shapes but not trying to go down to that kind of knife edge,” notes Carbon ThreeSixty’s technical lead, Sarthak Mahapatra. “What’s different in ASPIRE is achieving a stable, precise fill of the deltoid corners in a format that stays dimensionally consistent right through to injection.” The company has filed a patent on the resulting manufacturing approach, which it views as foundational to broader TFP noodle applications across the aerospace supply chain.

The fiber for those noodles comes from Lineat, a University of Bristol spinout producing AFFT tape made from a short fiber material in which rCF has been re-aligned along a common axis using a proprietary fluid dynamics process. To understand what makes this difficult, consider the analogy of papermaking: paper mills disperse fibers into a random, isotropic slurry precisely to produce a uniform sheet. Lineat’s process does the opposite, driving alignment in a suspension of carbon fibers between 4 and 10 millimeters long and just 7 micrometers in diameter, producing a unidirectional (UD)-like tape from a discontinuous feedstock.

“The difference between a fiber being aligned and unaligned affects the whole specification and property of that material,” says Gary Owen, Lineat’s commercial director. “Understanding those fluid dynamics at a 7-micron scale, knowing how the shape of a droplet hitting a plate affects the flow, knowing how each variable interacts and validating the alignment of the material — that’s where the real complexity is.”

The resulting AFFT aligned fiber tape is stabilized with an acrylic binder, compatible with standard thermoset and thermoplastic matrix systems. Lineat’s pilot line can produce 1,000 meters of 100-millimeter-wide tape per day that scales substantially when the tape is reformatted to noodle-feed width.

Lineat’s AFFT tape is produced by re-aligning recycled short carbon fibers into a common axial orientation to achieve approximately 80% of the stiffness of virgin unidirectional (UD) carbon fiber. Source | Lineat

Critically, the AFFT tape retains approximately 80% of the stiffness of virgin UD carbon fiber, and for the noodle application, that figure is specification. A noodle should not transfer primary loads between structural elements; its function is void filling and local compressive stiffness at the radius joint. A continuous fiber running the full noodle length would intercept structural loads in the joint unpredictably, complicating the design of the spar geometry around it. Lineat’s short, aligned fiber architecture prevents that load path by design while still providing the stiffness needed to resist void collapse under infusion pressure.

The same AFFT tape may carry a second function in ASPIRE. Pentaxia is currently investigating whether Lineat’s recycled discontinuous fiber could serve as the heating element within its self-heated JouleTool molds. Carbon fiber is conductive, which makes it an attractive candidate for joule heating, but standard UD carbon fiber has low electrical resistance, demanding high currents at tool scale to generate sufficient heat. The short fiber breaks inherent in Lineat’s aligned discontinuous tape introduce resistance discontinuities throughout, increasing total resistance and reducing the current requirement. It is an unplanned synthesis between two partner technologies, and one that could simplify the company’s JouleTool’s electrical architecture considerably.

Steering the design

ICOMAT’s RTS technology (read CW’s “Industrializing rapid tape shearing for high-rate, 3D composite structures”) places fiber tows at nonstandard angles by shearing the tow width rather than bending the tow path. This eliminates the gaps and overlaps that conventional automated fiber placement (AFP) introduces above approximately ±30° from the primary deposition axis, and delivers a continuous, defect-free fiber architecture at orientations that AFP cannot achieve. The result is a vastly expanded design space, so rather than selecting from the three standard angle families, a designer working with RTS can specify any in-plane fiber direction at any point on the laminate surface.

For the ASPIRE wingtip skins and spars, this creates two simultaneous opportunities. Structurally, fibers can be continuously routed around access panel cutouts and geometric discontinuities, maintaining uninterrupted load paths where quasi-isotropic laminates would rely on local reinforcement overlays. In terms of manufacturability, pre-optimized fiber steering can counteract the wrinkling modes that develop when a flat laminate is drawn over a complex tool surface during forming, reducing defect initiation without adding post-cure rework. For the flap, iCOMAT’s team is addressing a more demanding geometry, where GKN Aerospace’s engineers self-identified a waffle-pattern internal structure which has a corrugated topology with frequent tight-radius folds as a forming challenge that conventional AFP could not resolve. RTS is being applied to define the fiber paths that enable that structure to be formed cleanly from a flat preform.

“There’s no easy way of designing variable-angle laminates using classic engineering rules,” explains Olivia Stodieck, iCOMAT’s director of composites engineering. “You need optimization algorithms that can handle the complexity, and then you need to communicate the design intent in a form your manufacturing partner can integrate directly into their tools.” A dedicated ASPIRE work package is building that integration layer linking iCOMAT’s RTS design and simulation environment with GKN Aerospace’s structural analysis tools so that fiber angle optimization and structural verification happen in a shared digital space, rather than sequentially across an interface.

An engineer operates iCOMAT’s rapid tow shearing (RTS) deposition head mounted on a six-axis ABB robot at the company's Gloucester facility. Source | iCOMAT

The University of Bath provides the analytical foundation to give confidence in the nonstandard angle composite designs. Professors Richard Butler and David Williams lead Bath’s contribution, drawing on a 15-year structural research partnership with GKN Aerospace that has involved more than 20 Ph.D.s, an EPSRC program grant (CERTEST) on composite certification and now an EPSRC prosperity partnership (ZENITH). Bath is developing analytical and numerical methods to take advantage of the design freedom given by nonstandard fiber angle composite laminates. These methods, in areas such as formability, damage tolerance, aeroelasticity and noodle performance, will provide input to the design process of wingtip Variant 3. The aim is to gain a deeper understanding of how these nonstandard angle laminates can be used most effectively to reduce weight while retaining performance and manufacturability. There is also a need to provide a route to increased use of analysis-based certification for these laminates.

“Because you’re freeing up the design space, it will be impossible to test all permutations,” says Butler. “The challenge is creating confidence in the analysis method so that it can become a tool for certification and something regulators can accept as a valid basis for approval without requiring a test campaign that could never be completed.”

The University of Bath has already engaged both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in early discussions about analysis-led certification pathways for nonstandard angle composites. ASPIRE Variant 3’s structural test results will be the first primary structure validation data those conversations can draw on.

Cutting the energy bill

A Pentaxia JouleTool test panel with embedded heating elements connected to a power supply, with surface thermocouples confirming a 200°C cure temperature. Source | Pentaxia

Autoclave curing is the energy-dominant step in composite wing manufacture, and for components at wing-structure scale, it is also the scheduling bottleneck. Pentaxia’s JouleTool addresses both by embedding resistive heating elements directly within the composite mold tool, allowing it to generate and apply cure heat from a standard electrical supply without the pressure vessel. The tool heats the part from the tool face outward rather than from the ambient atmosphere inward as it’s the most efficient direction thermally.

Pentaxia has been developing JouleTool through approximately 5 years of internal and commercial programs, and has demonstrated 80-90% energy savings compared to autoclave processing for large composite components. ASPIRE is the program that will take the technology to TRL 6 in an aerospace-scale, aerospace-quality manufacturing context. The primary deliverable is a lower wingtip skin preforming tool approximately 4 meters long × 1.5-2 meters wide, instrumented for RTM binder activation at 120°C, with a stretch objective of achieving 180°C cure for the advanced prepreg materials being used in the flap skins — around the thermal threshold for full prepreg consolidation and the most demanding condition the technology will face in a composite application.

“Our aim is that someone can give us their surface geometry and we can make a JouleTool package that suits their cure schedule and their component requirements,” says James Smith, business manager at Pentaxia. “The control unit has to be as familiar as an autoclave controller and enable automated cure input, scheduling and running.” The ASPIRE program control unit produces a digital twin output compatible with GKN Aerospace’s automated cell, making the JouleTool a native node in the digital manufacturing environment and enabling the real-time process monitoring that aerospace quality systems demand.

The heating element design itself remains in active development. Copper veil, which is the conventional material approach for internal heating, is effective but adds an extraneous material system within the composite tooling stack. UD carbon fiber as a heating element offers material consistency but generates low resistance, demanding high currents at tooling scale. The Lineat AFFT tape route would introduce a material that is already qualified within the program, provides tuneable resistance through fiber length and alignment density, and carries a sustainability benefit through its recycled feedstock. The ASPIRE program will determine which route offers the most robust engineering solution.

Demonstration to test 

The value of testing all three wingtip variants to ultimate load, rather than to a sub-scale coupon program or finite element predictions alone, is that the aerospace industry only has one currency for certification: physical evidence at relevant scale. All three variants are built to the same Airbus-derived geometry and tested under the same load cases. The weight differential between variants will be measured directly. More significantly, if the University of Bath’s probabilistic analysis tools correctly predict the structural behavior of Variant 3, ASPIRE will have demonstrated a route to certify nonstandard angle composite structures that the current regulatory framework does not yet accommodate.

ASPIRE follows the ASCEND program, which concluded in March 2025 and established the manufacturing infrastructure of automated RTM cells, high-rate prepreg systems, digital twins and sustainability frameworks on which several ASPIRE technologies are directly built. Where ASCEND asked how to produce composite structures faster and more consistently, ASPIRE asks what a genuinely reconceived structure looks like when those production capabilities are already in place. The two programs are sequential arguments in the same case: that the U.K. composites industry has the knowledge, the supply chain and the physical evidence to lead the next generation of commercial aircraft structures.  

“We’re not just trying to make things a bit lighter or a bit cheaper,” says GKN’s Lloyd. “We want to show that if you think differently about composites, if you use different design rules, recycled materials and better tooling, and then you test it the same way you’d test anything going on an aircraft, then you can achieve genuine benefit. Numbers on paper don’t move the aerospace industry. Test data does.”

By April 2028, ASPIRE will have produced the three ultimate load tested wingtip structures and an advanced movable wing, all built using technologies that today’s design and certification standards do not fully describe. That gap between what the tests will have shown and what the rulebooks currently allow is precisely what this program is designed to bridge.

Within the framework of the collaboration, Guaranteed and Lockheed Martin will explore the use of Guaranteed's custom technology for moldmaking applications and near-net-shape structural components. These applications have the potential to reduce buy-to-fly ratios, improve material efficiency, and support more resilient, sovereign and sustainable supply chains.

The collaboration is linked to the long-term industrial cooperation agreements associated with Belgium's F-35 program. These initiatives are designed to create high-tech manufacturing opportunities, strengthen the Belgian aerospace and defense ecosystem and contribute to broader socio-economic growth.

Guaranteed offers large-format metal printing capabilities, with a build envelope of up to 10 × 6 × 5 meters, combined with a one-stop-shop approach covering engineering, production, repair and process qualification. The company also develops full manufacturing recipes for complex and advanced products, including molds with conformal cooling channels and grid fin structures, as well as demanding materials such as 17-4 PH stainless steel and Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy.

In addition, Guaranteed brings expertise in design for additive manufacturing (DFAM), thermo-mechanical simulation, metallurgical analysis, material selection and machine-learning-based process monitoring and quality control.

Founded in 2019, Guaranteed is a Belgian company supported by ArcelorMittal, Finindus and OCAS. It specializes in large-scale metal additive manufacturing for production and repair applications.

Hermle USA Inc.’s C 62 U MT Gen2 five-axis mill-turn center provides precision and productivity for demanding workpiece challenges.

The C 62 U MT Gen2 features traverse paths of 1,200 × 1,300 × 900 mm and accommodates workpieces weighing up to 2,500 kg on its 1,350-mm swiveling rotary table. Spindle speeds reach up to 18,000 rpm, combined with rapid traverse rates of 50 m/min, which support aggressive material removal rates and surface quality required by aerospace, energy and heavy-industry manufacturers. The machine’s mineral casting construction and chip management system provide long-term accuracy and reliability in demanding production environments.

The machine supports both Heidenhain TNC7 and Siemens Sinumerik One control platforms, as well as integration into Hermle’s PW 3000 pallet changer and full HACS/HIMS automation suite. The C 62 U MT Gen2 can be transported without disassembly and installed without a foundation, simplifying deployment.

Hermle USA Inc.’s C 62 U MT Gen2 five-axis mill-turn center provides precision and productivity for demanding workpiece challenges.

The C 62 U MT Gen2 features traverse paths of 1,200 × 1,300 × 900 mm and accommodates workpieces weighing up to 2,500 kg on its 1,350-mm swiveling rotary table. Spindle speeds reach up to 18,000 rpm, combined with rapid traverse rates of 50 m/min, which support aggressive material removal rates and surface quality required by aerospace, energy and heavy-industry manufacturers. The machine’s mineral casting construction and chip management system provide long-term accuracy and reliability in demanding production environments.

The machine supports both Heidenhain TNC7 and Siemens Sinumerik One control platforms, as well as integration into Hermle’s PW 3000 pallet changer and full HACS/HIMS automation suite. The C 62 U MT Gen2 can be transported without disassembly and installed without a foundation, simplifying deployment.

Source | Hexcel

Hexcel Corp. (Stamford, Conn., U.S.) has completed qualification of its HexPly M91 carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy prepreg system through the National Center for Advanced Materials Performance (NCAMP), an initiative of the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University (WSU, Kan., U.S.).

The qualification includes unidirectional  (UD) tape and plain weave fabric forms, establishing a fully characterized material system for use in primary aerospace structures and other structural applications. The company talks more about the M91 system in this LinkedIn video.

“This qualification marks an important step in expanding access to high-performance composite materials across the aerospace industry,” notes Imad Atallah, vice president of commercial aerospace growth programs and product management for fibers, reinforcements and matrix at Hexcel. “M91 builds on proven platforms while delivering the increased performance required for future aircraft and propulsion systems.”

Material allowables and supporting data have been published in the NCAMP database, where they are available to aerospace manufacturers to support design and certification.

The M91 system is designed for demanding primary structure aerospace applications. It combines an intermediate modulus carbon fiber with a toughened epoxy resin system engineered for improved structural performance. Compared with established baseline materials, the system offers enhanced tensile and compressive properties along with improved impact resistance for load-bearing structures. Hexcel has supplied M91 for use in advanced aerospace applications, such as carbon-fiber reinforced composite engine fan blades, over several years. 

The qualification also reflects Hexcel’s ongoing collaboration with NIAR and its efforts to develop, scale, validate and expand access to aerocomposites.

Hypersonix’s DART AE demonstrator vehicle. Source | Hypersonix Launch Systems

A team from hypersonics company Hypersonix Launch Systems (Brisbane, Australia) and The University of Queensland (UQ, Australia) has beaten the extreme heat produced when traveling more than 5X the speed of sound thanks to improved high-temperature ceramic matrix composites (CMC) development.

Through the use of expertise at UQ’s Centre for Advanced Materials Processing and Manufacturing (AMPAM), the team improved upon the manufacturing processes used to make CMC parts and designs addressing the differences in heat created throughout an aircraft colliding with air particles at very high speeds.

The project between Hypersonix and UQ, and supported by the Australian Composites Manufacturing CRC (then known as SOMAC), was announced in 2023, shortly after the startup was awarded a contract under the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit’s Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airbourne Testing (HYCAT) program.

“We are proud to have supported this 2-year project early on in the CRC’s term,” says ACM CRC CEO Luke Preston. “It has developed important and valuable technology in service of an ambitious Australian company’s goals, and with commercial potential across space, energy and defense.”

“To my knowledge, the capability for these types of CMC parts doesn’t exist beyond a lab level in Australia,” says Sam Grieve, head of manufacturing, Hypersonix. “There are no large-scale production facilities for CMCs in Australia. There’s a developed industry in Europe, particularly Germany, but Australia is very much in the early stages. I would say that the facilities that Dr. Michael Heitzmann [program lead] has developed at UQ are forging a sovereign capability.” 

Hypersonix’s DART AE reached speeds greater than Mach 5 during its first flight on Feb. 27, 2026, at Wallops Island, Virginia. The mission was designated Cassowary Vex by the DIU (and flew as “That’s Not A Knife” with Rocket Lab). The autonomous, 3.5-meter aircraft (seen above) was carried into the upper atmosphere by Rocket Lab’s HASTE launch vehicle, before executing its hypersonic flight profile, gathering flight data and testing its propulsion, materials and control systems in real hypersonic conditions.

Hypersonix was founded in 2019 by David Waterhouse and Dr. Michael Smart, the latter an ex-UQ chair of hypersonic propulsion and NASA researcher. The company closed a Series A funding round in October 2025 with $46 million from investors.

Source | Getty Images/primeimages

Jamco Corp. (Tokyo, Japan), a global provider of commercial aircraft interiors, seating and maintenance services for OEMs like Boeing and Airbus, is joining the “Project for Building a Circular Economy Industry for Next-generation Aircraft,” which targets the recycling and use of carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) recovered from retired aircraft.

The project was launched by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) and will be carried out jointly with Tokai National Higher Education and Research System Nagoya University as the representative institution, together with Jamco, the Japan Fine Ceramics Center (JFCC), Subaru Corp., the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and others.

Jamco’s specific responsibilities center on aircraft interior components, which act as a practical entry point for recycled materials due to strict flammability certifications but lesser structural fatigue demands. The company will develop a substrate-forming process to convert recycled materials into usable forms, define the certification requirements needed for recycled composites in cabin applications and conduct tests using actual aircraft.

Source | Joby Aviation

Joby Aviation Inc. (Santa Cruz, Calif., U.S.) and Virgin Atlantic (London, U.K.) have signed a definitive, multiyear commercial agreement, converting a partnership the companies first announced in 2025 into a binding framework to launch service for Joby’s composites-intensive S4 electric air taxi in the U.K.. The S4 airframe relies on carbon fiber-reinforced composite structures and Joby began producing composite propeller blades at its Dayton, Ohio, facility in October 2025 to support planned production of up to 500 aircraft per year (see Learn more below).

The agreement establishes Virgin Atlantic as Joby’s exclusive airline partner for air taxi service in the U.K. and builds on Joby’s existing partnership with Delta Air Lines (Atlanta, Ga., U.S.), which holds a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic, linking the three companies to advance faster, more convenient regional travel. Virgin Atlantic will integrate Joby’s service into its booking platforms, including its mobile app and website, allowing travelers to reserve air taxi connections alongside long-haul flights.

Joby plans to launch service at Virgin Atlantic’s hubs in London and Manchester, with the latter anchoring connections across the north of England. Early routes are expected to include Manchester Airport to Leeds in ~15 minutes and Heathrow to Central London in as little as 8 minutes — trips that take more than 1 hour by car today. Joby will retain responsibility for aircraft operations, route management and securing regulatory approval from the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), while Virgin Atlantic will support infrastructure integration and customer acquisition.

According to Aviation Week, which spoke with Joby at the Farnborough Air Show, the company still has additional certification work ahead before it can carry paying passengers. Ife Ogunleye, Joby’s systems engineering and certification lead, told Aviation Week that the company must complete several prerequisites under FAA Part 21.35 — the regulation governing flight tests required for type certification — before beginning for-credit certification flight testing with an FAA test pilot.

“The regulation has specific requirements of all the things you have to do,” says Ogunleye in the article, adding that Joby is now working through them with the FAA. Joby is pursuing parallel validation with the CAA, the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau and Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority, and Ogunleye described the FAA relationship as collaborative, noting the agency has worked to harmonize its approach with international counterparts.

Three additional conforming S4 aircraft are expected to join Joby’s test fleet by year’s end, and the company’s approach to FAA type inspection authorization will allow specific tests to be transferred across different airframes rather than tying individual tests to individual aircraft. Ogunleye notes in the Aviation Week article that destructive testing will be limited to structural components rather than full conforming aircraft.

Source | Massivit

Massivit (Lod, Israel and Alpharetta, Ga., U.S.) is opening and operation its first Europe-based Service Center in Barcelona, Spain, which will function under the company’s Europe entity in support of Massivit’s recently launched RapidWings manufacturing platform (read “...Platform Reduces Composite Tooling Lead Times for Defense, Aerospace”). 

In light of global aerospace and defense market requirements for on-demand manufacturing (“On the Radar: 3D Printing and the Agile Production Imperative”), the Europe Service Center was established to provide high-speed tooling — including molds, masters, mandrels, jigs, fixtures and prototype tooling — that reduces traditional tooling lead times from months to days, enabling manufacturers to overcome existing backlogs.

At the heart of the facility lies Massivit’s Cast In Motion (CIM) digital tooling technology that the company says will allow composited manufacturers to bypass recognized tooling bottlenecks and supply chain constraints. Based on defense projects already completed via the RapidWings platform, manufacturers can expect a tooling lead time reduction of up to 90%.

The Service Center offers manufacturers a seamless workflow from digital CAD design through 3D printed tool to final machined part. Unlike conventional tooling methods that involve modeling foams, tooling boards or 3D printed thermoplastics, CIM technology delivers isotropic tooling that provides optimal dimensional stability, thermal resistance, adhesion and surface quality, making the tools suitable for autoclave and a range of temperatures. The molds can also withstand hundreds of cycles, thereby responding to the immediate demand for mass-production of drones, airframes and composite structures.

In addition, the Service Center is intended to serve as the first step for future deployment of global RapidWings service and production centers which will be operated independently or through a third-party cooperation model (Joint Manufacturing Alliance network).

Mitsui Seiki USA showcases the HU63A-5XT five-axis horizontal machining center. Designed for next-generation aerospace manufacturing, this high-precision millturn system provides aerospace manufacturers with accurate milling and turning capabilities for complete part processing from roughing to finishing in a single setup, providing consistent machining of complex components to spec. This is especially important to shops manufacturing engine cases and housings where repeatability is essential to reducing the clamping errors that can lead to mismatched components and scrap.

The HU63A-5XT offers 900-mm X-/Y-/Z-travels with simultaneous five-axis machining capabilities and features a high-torque spindle delivering up to 1,081 Nm with ±0.001-mm positioning accuracy.

Capable of machining hard-to-cut materials such as titanium, the HU63A-5XT supports cutting feed rates between 0.1-10,000 mm/minute in the X-, Y- and Z-axes. Rapid traverse rates in the X-axis can reach 12,000 mm/minute while the Y- and Z-axes travel up to 24,000 mm/minute. Combined with 2,160 degrees/minute for the A-axis and 3,600 degrees/minute for the B-axis, the millturn is said to deliver high precision at considerable speeds. This fully automated machining center is equipped with 630-mm square pallets with automatic pallet changer and automatic tool changer as standard.

The machine, including two APCs and chip conveyor, measures 5,700 mm × 4,700 mm × 3,450 mm with pallet height ranging from 1,500 mm (APC side) to 1,480 mm (M/C side). Powered by the FANUC Series 501 iS-A controller — designed to work with high-speed complex multitasking machines — the HU63A-5XT also performs drilling, boring, tapping and reaming operations.

“By combining full five-axis machining and turning capability in a single platform, manufacturers can complete complex components in one setup, reducing variation, improving throughput and achieving the precision required for today’s most critical aerospace applications,” says Daniel Cleary, president and CEO of Mitsui Seiki USA.

Syensqo and Airbus teams meet at Farnborough Airshow 2026. Source | Syensqo 

Syensqo (Brussels, Belgium) has secured a new long-term supply agreement with Airbus (Toulouse, France). Under the contract, Syensqo will continue to supply a broad range of advanced materials from its portfolio including prepregs, resin transfer molding (RTM) resins, adhesives and primers to support Airbus programs across commercial aircraft, space and defense, and helicopter platforms.

The aerospace and defense market is experiencing unprecedented growth, driven by increasing demand for advanced materials that enable efficient manufacturing processes and support ambitious production rates (several related announcements were made at Farnborough 2026). With its global manufacturing network, application development capabilities and deep industry expertise, Syensqo is confident that it is well positioned to partner with OEMs and Tier suppliers to meet these evolving market needs.

Aerospace continues to be an important growth driver for Syensqo, with sustained demand in civil aviation expected to support volume growth in its Composite Materials business throughout 2026. The company is planned to support the MV-75 Cheyenne defense aircraft, while it broke ground at a site in Maryland focused on aerocomposites production support.

Source | NASA

NASA has selected seven companies for contract awards under the Mars Exploration Program’s Science Transport and Robotic Innovation for Deployment and Exploration (STRIDE) initiative to advance next-gen commercial robotic surface mobility for future Mars exploration.

The STRIDE awards will support the development of innovative robotic mobility systems that may enable future Mars missions to access more challenging terrain, travel greater distances and investigate scientifically valuable regions that are difficult to reach with current mobility systems.

With a potential value of ≈$17 million and work targeted to begin in Q3 2026, the all-U.S. list of contract awardees includes:

• AeroVironment (Arlington, Va.)
• Astrobotic (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
• Venturi Astrolab (Hawthorne, Calif.)
• Ground Control Robotics (Atlanta, Ga.)
• Honeybee Robotics (Longmont, Colo.)
• Intuitive Machines (Houston, Texas)
• MEI Technologies (Webster, Texas)

As reported by Mark Carreau in a July 2026 Aviation Week article, NASA currently has two rovers actively exploring Mars. Curiosity landed in August 2012 to investigate changes in the environmental habitability of Mars over time, while Perseverance touched down in February 2021 with the Ingenuity drone helicopter to seek evidence of past biological activity. Three previous NASA Mars rovers—the Mars Pathfinder Sojourner and the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity — landed in 1997 and 2004. Though successful, they struggled with issues that included mobility in the Martian sand and dust storms that inhibited solar power generation.

The mobility failures that STRIDE is meant to solve — rovers mired in soft sand, solar arrays choked with dust and mass budgets too tight for redundant systems — are problems composites have already been used to address elsewhere in Mars and Moon missions hardware. Carbon fiber composite rotor blades enabled Ingenuity to fly in an atmosphere less than 1% as dense as Earth’s while composite pressure vessels cut mass from Nova-C’s lunar landing-proven propulsion system. Composite rover wheels have also been engineered, at nano-rover scale, for the same loose-regolith traction problem NASA cited when describing Spirit and Opportunity’s struggles.

Through its Artemis program, NASA plans to build a knowledge base for future human expeditions to Mars, first sending astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to the Moon with plans to establish a sustainable human presence via a base camp developed in phases starting in 2028 with the Artemis IV mission. CW will be watching to see if and how these STRIDE awardees apply composites as the start to develop Mars mobility design concepts.

Source | Natilus

Blended wing body (BWB) composite aircraft developer Natilus (San Diego, Calif., U.S.) announced that the Federal Aviation Administraion (FAA) has assigned a project number to its Kona regional cargo aircraft, formally initiating its Part 23 certification program.

“Certification is one of the most important milestones for any new aircraft,” says Natilus in a LinkedIn post. “It establishes the path from design and development to commercial operations and reflects the close collaboration required between an aircraft manufacturer and the FAA throughout the certification process.”

This milestone, it adds, represents another important step toward bringing the Kona to market, a aircraft that relies heavily on composites in its design to reduce operating costs while increasing payload capacity. “We’re grateful to the FAA team for their continued engagement and look forward to the work ahead.”

In July 2025, Natilus was awarded a patent for Kona’s diamond-shaped cargo bay and in March 2025, it initiated the launch of its first domestic manufacturing to produce the BWB aircraft.

Currently, Natilus’ commercial product order book stands at more than 57 aircraft, with reservations from players like SpiceJet, Nolinor Aviation, Flexport and Ameriflight — and is valued at $24 billion. In addition to strong demand from domestic and global carriers, the company’s optionally piloted Kona is gaining interest for its potential defense applications.

Read more in CW news and articles about Natilus and Kona.

An F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot prepares for flight at Fleet Readiness Center Southwest in San Diego. Source | U.S. Navy

The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD, Patuxent River, Md., U.S.) and Fleet Readiness Center Southwest (FRCSW, Coronado, Calif., U.S.) aim to cut F/A-18 Super Hornet composite repair time by ≈50% with the development of a 3D printing repair method that enables sailors to perform composite fixes directly at forward operating bases.

“Our goal is to put capability directly into the hands of the fleet,” says NAWCAD Commander Rear Adm. Todd Evans. “By simplifying a complex repair so it can be done forward, our engineers would get aircraft back in the fight faster — it’s a smart solution that makes our squadrons more self-sufficient and directly improves operational readiness.”

After successful lab and ground tests, the joint development team will flight-test the 3D printed repair on an operational aircraft this summer 2026.

When an F/A-18 is grounded with damaged composite parts — such as its engine bay doors — the Navy loses critical combat capability. Historically, repairing these advanced materials can cause severe delays. The traditional process requires highly specialized maintenance artisans and lengthy turnaround times, keeping jets out of the air and stretching supply chains.

To solve the challenge, NAWCAD and FRCSW engineers created high-performance, 3D printed composite patches that can be applied directly onto the aircraft. The team developed patch application procedures and quality checks that ensure these printed parts are safe for flight.

The solution would benefit from a network of 3D printers already deployed at 22 Navy maintenance sites around the world, enabling repairs where aircraft actively operate rather than waiting for parts to be shipped back to repair depots in the U.S.

NAWCAD employs military, civilian and contract personnel to operate test ranges, laboratories and aircraft in support of test, evaluation, research, development and sustainment for all Navy and Marine Corps aviation platforms. NAWCAD has major sites in St. Inigoes, Maryland; Lakehurst, New Jersey; and Orlando, Florida. FRCSW is one of naval aviation’s major maintenance facilities based in San Diego.

Source | (top left, clockwise) Airbus, Avio Aero, Embraer and Intelligent Energy

Read more:

• CW’s news and articles about ZeroAvia
• Hydrogen in aviation
• Electrification and hydrogen in CW’s market outlook for Aviation and Advanced Air Mobility 2026
• CW’s report on Carbon Fiber and Composites in Hydrogen Storage

Multiple aerospace companies have reported new developments in hydrogen-electric and hydrogen fuel cell propulsion over the past month, reflecting continued industry investment in zero-emission flight technology ahead of eventual certification. The developments include defence applications, engine joint ventures, altitude relight testing and fuel cell rig testing, several of which carry implications for lightweight, composite-intensive hydrogen storage and propulsion system integration.

ZeroAvia and Marshall Aerospace explore hydrogen-electric defence applications

ZeroAvia Inc. (Hollister, Calif., U.S.) and Marshall Aerospace (Cambridge, England) announced a strategic collaboration to explore hydrogen-electric capability for military platforms. The effort combines ZeroAvia’s flight-tested hydrogen-electric propulsion technology with Marshall Aerospace’s experience in military aircraft modification, integration, certification and complex fuel systems.

Company officials say the collaboration is an early stage effort focused on prototyping and evaluation, with decisions on deployment and operational use to follow as the technology and its applications are tested and better understood. Read ZeroAvia’s press release for more information.

“Defense applications are already demanding greater endurance, lower thermal signatures and more operational flexibility, and we’re focused on proving where this technology fits.” — Christine Ourmières-Widener, executive chair of ZeroAvia.

Airbus and MTU Aero Engines to form hydrogen fuel cell engine joint venture

Airbus (Toulouse, France) and MTU Aero Engines (Munich, Germany) announced on July 7 that the companies intend to establish a joint venture (JV) dedicated to developing and commercializing a fully hydrogen-electric fuel cell engine. The planned joint venture builds on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) the companies signed at the Paris Air Show in June 2025 and is expected to begin operations in 2027 pending regulatory approval.

The new entity is intended to combine Airbus’ commercial aircraft program knowledge and fuel cell propulsion and liquid hydrogen expertise with MTU’s fuel cell technology development and engine design, integration, validation and certification experience. The companies note that the JV aims to deliver the first hydrogen fuel cell propulsion system for a commercial aircraft, covering the full life cycle from development and testing through certification and commercialization. 

Beyond the engine technologies, Airbus and MTU will continue to foster a hydrogen aviation economy and the associated regulatory framework, which are critical enablers to hydrogen-powered flight at scale.

Read Airbus’ press release for more information.

Intelligent Energy advances fuel cell eVTOL platform through U.K.-backed HEIGHTS program

Intelligent Energy (Loughborough, U.K.) is progressing its IE-Flight 300 hydrogen fuel cell platform for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and next-generation sub-regional aircraft through Project HEIGHTS, a £17 million program backed by the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI). The initiative builds on H2GEAR, a completed £54 million U.K. hydrogen aviation research program led by GKN Aerospace (Redditch, England).

H2GEAR delivered gains in power density, thermal management, aircraft integration and system validation for Intelligent Energy and supported development of a 1.3-megawatt fuel cell test facility in Northamptonshire, England, that uses green hydrogen generated from on-site renewable energy. Working with GKN Aerospace, Intelligent Energy also identified opportunities to reduce overall aircraft mass, an area where composite hydrogen storage and structural components are expected to play a role as the platform moves toward commercial service. Read more:

• Intelligent Energy press release
• Intelligent Energy’s HEIGHTS page
• MTC’s 2025 news on the HEIGHTS project
• July 9 news that GKN Aerospace and University of Nottingham launch HPDrive Technologies Ltd. to develop cryogenic electrical machine tech for future zero-emissions aircraft. 

Embraer begins hydrogen fuel cell rig testing

Embraer (São José dos Campos, Brazil) has started testing a hydrogen fuel cell rig at a facility in San Diego, California, according to June 2026 report in Hydrogen Fuel News. The rig is designed to evaluate fuel cell stacks, power electronics, cooling systems and safety controls, generating data on integration challenges including weight, volume, thermal management and fuel handling for future regional aircraft.

The testing runs alongside Embraer’s research into dual-fuel systems that combine hydrogen with conventional jet fuel or sustainable aviation fuel, work the company says is intended to inform future powertrain design, certification strategy and infrastructure planning as part of its broader Energia initiative for low-carbon aircraft concepts.

Avio Aero, GE Aerospace complete hydrogen combustion and fuel cell test milestones

Teams from GE Aerospace (Evendale, Ohio, U.S.) and Avio Aero (a GE Aerospace company, Rivalta di Torino, Italy) in Germany, Italy, Poland and Turkey have achieved new milestones for hydrogen combustion and hybrid electric propulsion under the Clean Aviation’s HYDEA project. The teams completed the company’s first test of engine restart using hydrogen in simulated altitude conditions at the DLR Institute of Space Propulsion (in Lampoldshausen, Germany), addressing what GE Aerospace describes as one of the most demanding requirements for flying with — reliably relighting an engine in thin cold air at high altitude. Engineers used a custom hydrogen sector combustor test rig with a synthetic air generator and an ignition system built by Unison, a GE Aerospace company, specifically for hydrogen operation.

Separately under the AMBER project, DLR completed testing of a proprietary fuel cell system at its BALIS test facility, validating fuel cell dynamic behavior from idle to maximum power and system resilience under simulated short- and long-range flight conditions. The AMBER program is developing technologies for a megawatt-class hybrid electric propulsion system that integrates fuel cells, power electronics and an electric drive. Read the GE Aerospace press release for more information.

Source | GE Aerospace

CFM International (Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S., and Paris, France) — the joint company of GE Aerospace (Evendale, Ohio, U.S.) and Safran Aircraft Engines (Paris, France) — has announced completed preliminary design reviews (PDR) for its Open Fan engine — including the compact core, open fan architecture and outlet guide vanes (OGVs) — clearing the way to begin manufacturing parts for a ground test demonstrator and testing by 2030.

Open Fan is a jet engine architecture developed under CFM’s Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines (RISE) program, launched in 2021. Eliminating the traditional engine casing, the design allows for a larger fan with less drag and OGVs — the second row of airfoils behind the fan — directing airflow so the open architecture can match the speed and altitude of current turbofan engines while delivering more than 20% more fuel efficiency. The Open Fan engine is also being designed for enhanced durability, according to a July 2026 article by GE Aerospace, “with its unique fan blade system, aerodynamic design and adaptive cycle engine capability, which could significantly reduce the engine’s dust ingestion.”

Source | Safran

With PDR of the Open Fan and OGV airfoils complete, CFM says it’s “leveraging both composite turbofan blade technology experience and turboprop expertise in blade retention, variable pitch and durable propeller structures” while “unique supercomputing capabilities are optimizing designs for acoustics and aerodynamics.”

Advanced Open Fan testing

Mechanical and material tests are underway on Open Fan blades and OGVs, including impact, ingestion, fatigue, endurance, load, icing and vibration response. First results from test campaigns, including wind tunnel facilities, have demonstrated that aeroacoustics performance has exceeded technology maturation objectives.

“While Open Fan is a new architecture, the technologies inside have been proven over decades of innovation,” says Arjan Hegeman, vice president of future of flight engineering for GE Aerospace, one of CFM’s parent companies. “We’re testing real, full-size Open Fan hardware, showing real progress and a renewed ambition from CFM to advance the RISE program and deliver the vital technology step-changes for durability and efficiency to power the future of air travel.”

The first high-speed low-pressure turbine (LPT) — part of the fan system — was also recently tested for more than 1,000 hours. Teams validated the LPT’s aerodynamic design as well as its aerothermal performance.

Dust ingestion tests underway

Open Fan architecture has inherent durability advantages compared to a next-generation conventional engine design, including cooler core temperatures and adaptive cycle technology for more effective particle extraction. Durability testing is being conducted earlier than ever in new technology development to improve hardware designs, which is important for customer operations. Teams also completed the compact core system’s PDR.

More than 2,000 cycles of dust ingestion tests have been completed to evaluate next-gen high-pressure turbine (HPT) airfoil technologies in an engine core. A second dust ingestion test of RISE program HPT technologies inserted in a more product-representative LEAP-1B engine is also improving understanding of how next-gen technologies could benefit the fleet today.

Hybrid electric ground tests

Both CFM parent companies are actively ground testing hybrid-electric systems through the RISE program. GE Aerospace completed two hybrid electric engine ground tests within the last year, demonstrating the feasibility of more electric aviation with and without energy storage.

Safran Aircraft Engines is making significant progress in hybrid-electric propulsion. The company launched PHILEAS, a ground testing campaign at its Istres site in France. PHILEAS is a full-scale engine demonstrator equipped with two electric machines designed for short- and medium-range aircraft engines.

“The RISE program is gaining strong momentum, moving from concept to reality,” says Pierre Cottenceau, engineering and R&T EVP, Safran Aircraft Engines. “More than 2,000 CFM engineers are advancing the technologies that will enable the next generation of propulsion. We are validating every key building block for Open Fan, supported by extensive testing capabilities. As we prepare to test a full-scale front module of the Open Fan in our new 8-meter test cell at Villaroche, we are building on decades of expertise, including for composite fan blades, to shape the future of aviation.”

As reported by Aviation Week, GE’s efforts also involve “testing a megawatt-class hybrid-electric engine system on a modified Saab 340B testbed.” That follows the completion of ground tests of the propulsion system at the company’s facility in Peebles, Ohio. Developed through NASA’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) project, the propulsion system is based on a GE CT7 turboprop fitted with GE-developed motor/generators, power converters, inverters and controllers. The engine is also configured with Dowty propellers, Avio Aero gearboxes and batteries provided by BAE Systems. The nacelle is supplied by Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences.

Park Aerospace made the announcement at Farnborough Air Show 2026. Source | Oklahoma Commerce

Tulsa International Airport (TUL) has secured another major aerospace tenant with Park Aerospace Corp. (Newton, Kan., U.S.) selecting the airport’s North Development Area for an aerospace composites manufacturing expansion.

Park Aerospace has been in business for more than 70 years and has served the aerospace industry for more than 50 years. Its products are used in many demanding commercial aerospace and defense applications.

The company plans to invest approximately $65 million to construct an advanced composite materials manufacturing facility on 18 acres at TUL. Construction is expected to begin soon, with the facility anticipated to be completed in 2028. Once operational, the facility is expected to employ more than 100 people.

The announcement, made in partnership with the state of Oklahoma, represents another significant milestone in Tulsa’s continued momentum as one of the nation’s premier locations for aerospace innovation. Park Aerospace joins a growing list of aerospace companies investing in TUL’s aerospace campus. In 2026 alone, the airport welcomed major investments from Agile Space Industries’ propulsion testing and manufacturing expansion, Quantum Space’s new spacecraft manufacturing facility and continued growth by long-time tenant Lufthansa Technik Component Services.

Supporting Park Aerospace’s ecosystem is a strong talent pipeline, with nationally recognized aviation and aerospace education programs at the high school, career technology and collegiate levels.

Source | Lanulfi Moulds S.r.l.

Lanulfi Moulds S.r.l. (Vicenza, Italy) is showcasing its expertise in designing and manufacturing high-precision molds and tooling for the truck and aerospace industries at CAMX 2026, with a focus on reactive injection molding (RIM) alongside thermoforming, rotational molding, compression molding and functional prototyping. For more than 45 years, the company has developed customized tools for technical parts requiring reliability, lightweight design, surface quality and process repeatability, supporting customers from concept through full-scale production.

In the truck segment, Lanulfi supports production of exterior and interior components for commercial and special vehicles, including cab parts, body panels, fenders, hoods, covers and structural elements designed for harsh operating conditions. The molds are engineered for stable processes, optimized cycle times and consistent quality, intended to help OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers reduce production costs and maintenance over the life of the tool.

For aerospace applications, Lanulfi focuses on composite components where dimensional accuracy, weight reduction and surface finish are critical to both safety and appearance. RIM molds are designed to produce complex geometries and integrated functions, with resin flow and curing control intended to deliver repeatable part quality that meets industry specifications. The company’s experience with advanced materials and tight tolerances supports prototypes, small production runs and serial programs.

At its booth, Lanulfi is presenting high-efficiency aluminum molds with optimized thermal control, design-for-manufacturing (DFM) support using simulation and rapid prototyping capabilities intended to speed validation of new components. The company also plans to present case histories illustrating how early engineering collaboration can reduce iterations, shorten time to market and lower total cost of ownership for tooling. 

Lanulfi also offers an integrated approach to tooling projects that combines models, jigs, fixtures and dedicated auxiliary equipment with technical cooperation spanning industrial design through ramp-up and after-sales service, intended to support current programs and future platform development for truck and aerospace manufacturers.

A Sikorsky Fire Hawk helicopter begins production at PZL Mielec in Poland. Source | PZL Mielec

In a milestone for European aerial firefighting and emergency response, PZL Mielec  (Mielec, Poland), a Lockheed Martin company, has commenced production of Europe’s first Sikorsky S-70 Firehawk helicopters. The aircraft are being manufactured for the Czech Republic Ministry of the Interior through a partnership with Česká letecká servisní (ČLS), a Helicopter Alliance (HA) company and United Rotorcraft.

The Firehawk is a purpose-built variant of the Black Hawk helicopter. The latter series is known for its extensive composites use — the wide-chord, four-blade main rotor; tail rotor cross beams; glass fiber and Kevlar cockpit doors, canopy, fairings and engine cowl; and glass fiber/Nomex floors; and reportedly received an improved turbine engine in 2024 using CMC. The S-70’s inboard firefighting tank system is also “assembled from commercially available composite panels by Leading Edge Composites,” led by the helicopter’s entry into civilian use with Brainerd Helicopters.

The Firehawk will enable the Czech Republic to launch rapid, all‑weather suppression missions from its home base and, through the European Commission’s RescuEU program, enabling rapid cross‑border deployment whenever wildfire, flood or earthquake emergencies arise.

Beyond the immediate tactical benefit, the program underscores Europe’s strategic move toward self‑reliant, high‑technology defense and civil‑security capabilities. “This production start is the first concrete step toward a continent‑wide, modern aerial firefighting network,” emphasizes Dr. Dennis Goege, vice president and chief executive for Europe, Lockheed Martin. 

The program illustrates a seamless collaboration among PZL Mielec, ČLS and U.S.-based United Rotorcraft (Englewood, Colo.), which will be expanding its capabilities into the Czech Republic. The team at PZL Mielec’s state‑of‑the‑art facility in Poland assembles each Black Hawk airframe with the support of more than 1,200 local suppliers. United Rotorcraft will integrate mission‑specific firefighting equipment, conduct crew training and provide long‑term sustainment, ensuring that the Czech operators receive a turnkey solution that mirrors the operational maturity relied upon by U.S. agencies including CAL FIRE, the County of Los Angeles Fire Department and others.

Each Firehawk is equipped with a 1,000‑gallon (3,785-liter) water tank, retractable snorkel, twin engines and night‑vision capability.

Source | Radia

Radia (Boulder, Colo., U.S.), developer of WindRunner, an aircraft designed to transport oversized cargo directly to remote or infrastructure-constrained sites, announced two agreements in June 2026 advancing the program: a renewed memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Italy’s Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT, Rome), and a strategic marketing collaboration with Blue Water Shipping (BWS, Esbjerg, Denmark), a provider of project logistics and freight forwarding services.

WindRunner has been in development for dual-use mobility across multiple industries for outsized cargo. It is capable of delivering some of the largest wind turbine blades, for example — up to 105 meters, with Radia describing potentially larger future “GigaWind” blades — to sites that current road, rail and port infrastructure cannot accommodate.

Aernnova (Álava, Spain) is developing the aircraft’s wing and engine pylons, and Leonardo (Rome, Italy) is developing the fuselage a 2024 announcement reports, drawing on both companies’ composites manufacturing experience.

Under the renewed MIMIT agreement, Radia and the ministry will work to engage Italy’s aerospace and industrial base in the WindRunner program, including potential manufacturing, engineering and supply chain contributions. The agreement will focus in part on coordinating with stakeholders in Italy’s Campania and Puglia regions, though any resulting investments or program decisions would be subject to further analysis and separate agreements. Rome already serves as one of Radia’s principal headquarters outside the U.S.

“As strategic mobility requirements continue to grow, allied nations will require new airlift capabilities,” says Mark Lundstrom, founder and CEO of Radia. “No new strategic airlift aircraft has entered production anywhere in the world in more than a decade. WindRunner is being developed to help address that gap by providing a new capability for transporting mission-critical, outsized cargo.”

Separately, Radia and BWS intend to work as preferred partners to jointly market integrated logistics solutions combining WindRunner’s air cargo capacity with BWS’ multimodal logistics, customs, port and project cargo services. The companies says initial collaboration will focus on energy and project cargo, humanitarian aid and disaster relief, aerospace logistics and defense-related transportation. As part of the arrangement, Radia and BWS plan to participate jointly in industry events and pursue coordinated business development.

“BWS has extensive experience delivering complex logistics solutions across industries that depend on precision, reliability and flexibility,” says Rasmus Svane, head of global product development, wind, at Blue Water Shipping. “Our collaboration with Radia represents an opportunity to explore new logistics models for oversized cargo and help customers rethink what is possible when combining multimodal transportation solutions.”

Source | Aimplas

Weight reduction and improved energy efficiency are two major challenges facing the aeronautics industry as it transitions toward more sustainable models. Against this backdrop, the RE-CELL project is developing an innovative generation of supercapacitors and structural batteries based on recycled carbon fiber (rCF), capable of storing energy while simultaneously forming part of the aircraft structure itself.

The initiative, coordinated by international aerostructures manufacturer Sofitec (Sevilla, Spain) with the participation of Aimplas, the Plastics Technology Centre (Valencia, Spain) and I2con (Valencia, Spain), proposes a paradigm shift in the design of aeronautical components through the use of multifunctional composite materials that combine mechanical properties with energy-storage capacity, thereby eliminating separate systems and optimizing an aircraft’s overall weight.

“The major challenge in aviation electrification is not only to store more energy, but to do so without adding a weight penalty. Structural batteries make precisely that possible, as the component itself performs both a structural and an energy function,” explains Esteban Castro, R&D engineer at Sofitec. These solutions will initially target noncritical applications, such as cabin lighting systems, laying the groundwork for broader integration in the future.

One of the project’s distinguishing features is the use of rCF as the basis for developing these new materials, which supports waste reduction in composites-intensive sectors and progress towards a circular economy model. To achieve this, the project is developing advanced fiber recycling and treatment processes, as well as their integration into polymer matrices so that the materials are capable of providing structural and electrochemical performance.

RE-CELL is not just addressing materials. It is also considering other limiting factors behind structural batteries, including the development of functional solid electrolytes, the variability of recycled fibers, and the complexity of combined mechanical and electrochemical behavior.

“One of the project’s main advances is to address phenomena that, until now, have been studied separately, such as ionic conduction and the material’s mechanical behavior. This integrated approach is essential to make the leap toward real applications,” notes Florin Ardelean, a researcher in computational modeling and simulation at I2con. 

The project will culminate in the manufacture and validation of a full-scale demonstrator integrated into a component linked to aircraft landing gear. This will make it possible to assess the technology’s performance under representative conditions and advance toward future industrialization.

RE-CELL is part of the 2023 Public-Private Partnership program, funded by the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) and co-funded by the European Union. 

Rego-Fix Tool Corp. showcases its toolholding solutions for manufacturers seeking enhanced precision, repeatability and reliability in their machining processes. The company will feature the original ER collet by Rego-Fix, and its PowRgrip toolholding system. The booth also features an Ed Carpenter Racing vehicle on display.

Rego-Fix toolholding systems provide Swiss-precision machining for all manufacturing sectors, including motorsports, aerospace, automotive and medical, through engineered solutions that promote accuracy, rigidity and repeatability in high-pressure environments that demand tight tolerances.

Developed in Tenniken, Switzerland by Rego-Fix, the original ER collet is engineered for precision, versatility and reliability across a wide range of machining applications. Rego-Fix ER collets provide high clamping force and concentricity for extending tool life while maintaining consistent part accuracy. The ER collet is available in multiple sizes and configurations to accommodate a broad clamping range, allowing shops to reduce tooling inventory without sacrificing performance.

The Rego-Fix PowRgrip toolholding system uses a taper-to-taper, press-fit collet holding design that creates a vibration-damping gap to interrupt the strength and severity of vibration waves. Three components make up the PowRgrip: holders, collets and press-fit assembly mounting units. Toolsetting can be accomplished in no more than 10 seconds without heat or hydraulics as used in other tool clamping systems. The PowRgrip technology allows tools to be used immediately after the loading cycle concludes without limitations and tool-life compromises.

As a special booth feature, Rego-Fix has the Ed Carpenter Racing team NTT IndyCar Series vehicle on display for attendees to experience up close and in person. With the use of the company toolholders, Ed Carpenter Racing has maintained precision and critical surface finishes, extended tool life, minimized tool runout and shortened cycle times at 24,000 rpm spindle speeds for its productive part processing.

From left to right: Rémy Triouleyre, regional CEO Europe of Schaeffler AG, and Bastien Mancini, CEO of Delair. Source | Schaeffler

Motion technology company Schaeffler Technologies (Herzogenaurach, Germany) and Delair (Toulouse), a French developer and manufacturer of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), have entered into a strategic cooperation that will support the industrial ramp-up of Delair’s drone production and strengthen Europe’s sovereign UAS capabilities. To do this, the partners will launch a new production line for drones and interceptors that will be able to deliver 100 units/day by November 2026. The cooperation combines Schaeffler’s product capabilities with Delair’s expertise in drone design, integration and operational deployment.

The production line will manufacture the Damoclès drone, which is already qualified by French DGA and equips the French Army, as well as the newly announced Aspik Interceptor, supporting the production of multi-rotor drones and related subsystems. Located in France, the line will give Delair the means to propose competitive products at large scale. 

“We see strong potential in supporting Delair’s growth through serial assembly, production scaling and component supply, while contributing to the development of resilient European defense-industrial capacity,” notes Rémy Triouleyre, regional CEO Europe of Schaeffler.

Source | Sonaca Group

Sonaca Group (Gosselies (Charleroi), Belgium) announces the signing of a multiyear contract with Otto Aerospace (Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.) for the development of the Phantom 3500 business jet.

At the heart of the program is a concept known as natural laminar flow, which helps reduce aerodynamic drag by maintaining a smoother airflow over the aircraft’s surfaces. While the principle has been known for decades, applying it successfully to a large aircraft wing remains a major engineering challenge.

Under this partnership, Sonaca will be responsible, in close collaboration with Otto Aerospace, for the design, industrialization and manufacturing of the prototype’s wings, fixed leading edges and empennage. The group will also support certification activities.

While the Sonaca announcement doesn’t explicitly state materials use in describing the wing, previous coverage verifies the aircraft’s use of carbon fiber composites to achieve efficiency targets. Sonaca itself maintains established composites manufacturing capabilities, in addition to its more widely known metallics expertise, with dedicated composite sites internationally — including a Spanish facility that specializes in the manufacture of aeronautical components from composite materials, including large structural parts. Materials the prototype wing will leverage will likely be detailed further down the line.

Around 50 engineers from Sonaca’s Belgian and Brazilian development teams are currently involved in the Phantom 3500 program, with the first deliveries scheduled for 2027. 

Beyond its improved environmental performance, the Phantom 3500 is expected to offer greater operational flexibility, enabling access to a wider range of airports than conventional business jets. For Yves Delatte, CEO of Sonaca Group, the program reflects the type of technological challenge that aligns with Sonaca’s expertise. “Industrializing a 20-meter laminar flow wing with the level of precision required for aircraft certification is a challenge,” Delatte says. “This is exactly the kind of engineering challenge that defines Sonaca’s expertise.”

The agreement is also part of a broader collaboration with Otto Aerospace and supports Sonaca’s strategy of expanding its presence in innovative, technology-driven programs alongside its commercial aerospace, defense and space activities.

Pictured (left to right): Michael Mohammed (Syensqo), Bill Martin, Mayor of Havre de Grace, Marc Doyle (Syensqo), Marc Cottman (Syensqo), Robert Gray (Syensqo) and Max Miller (Syensqo). Source | Syensqo

Syensqo (Alpharetta, Ga., U.S.) has broken ground on a manufacturing expansion at its Havre de Grace, Maryland site, adding more than 30% capacity through a multimillion-dollar investment in the company’s U.S. manufacturing footprint.

The expansion further strengthens Syensqo’s global manufacturing network and its ability to support the growing aerospace market with advanced material solutions. Syensqo supplies high-performance structural adhesives and surfacing products for commercial aerospace, defense, propulsion, space, advanced air mobility (AAM) and automotive customers.

“This marks an important milestone for our Havre de Grace site and for Syensqo’s continued growth in composite materials,” says Rodrigo Elizondo, president, Syensqo Composite Materials. “This investment will strengthen supply reliability, improve efficiency and support our ability to meet growing customer demand for adhesive, bonding and primer materials. It follows and complements our previous capacity increase in Wrexham U.K.”

Read more about Syensqo on CW.

Source | Northrop Grumman

Touchstone Advanced Composites (TAC, Triadelphia, W.V., U.S.), part of the Innovations business unit of Core Natural Resources (CNR), is fabricating complex structural tooling for Northrop Grumman (Falls Church, Va., U.S.) YFQ-48A Talon Blue collaborative combat aircraft (CCA). TAC played an integral part in Talon Blue’s successful autonomous taxi test in Mojave, California, in May 2026.

TAC is collaborating with Northrop Grumman to provide its Cfoam tooling material and to fabricate certain parts for the aircraft. Northrop Grumman is developing Talon Blue as a modular, cost-effective and rapidly deployable autonomous wingman with advanced manufacturing techniques.

Aircraft like this are built with a different philosophy than traditional manned fighters, emphasizing scalability, adaptability and cost. TAC’s integrated capabilities make it well-suited for programs requiring specialized, streamlined production, with an approach designed to move quickly and evolve seamlessly from prototype to full-scale manufacturing. 

In particular, the company’s Cfoam technology, which is used to make the tools or molds for manufacturing composite aerospace parts, supports this philosophy by providing high-precision, thermally stable tools that can be readily modified as the aircraft is designed and easily transitioned from development to initial production. Cfoam is made from domestically sourced bituminous coal.

“Our focus is on bridging the gap between prototype and full-rate production without compromising performance,” says Dan Connell, president of Core’s Innovations business unit. “By providing a versatile material with tight control over thermal properties and material behavior, we’re able to support a faster, more adaptable engineering process as aircraft continue to evolve.”

The COMPASS facility. Source (All Images) AMRC

On July 16, the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC, Sheffield, U.K.) officially opened Composites at Speed and Scale (COMPASS), its £54 million open-access R&D facility, built on two decades of the AMRC’s industrially relevant composites and automation research.

The COMPASS facility is designed to de-risk and accelerate high-rate, large-scale composite production, serving as critical national infrastructure to meet global aircraft demand, and unlocking the advanced capabilities required to manufacture large-scale aerostructures faster and more efficiently within the U.K.

“This project has been a true collaborative effort,” says Prof. Ben Morgan, CEO at the University of Sheffield AMRC. “My sincere thanks go to the government’s ATI Programme, the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, the High Value Manufacturing Catapult and the University of Sheffield, alongside our technology and research partners Loop and Boeing as we embark on our first landmark project together.”

Boeing (Arlington, Va., U.S.) is the open-access facility’s first user, housing the largest research program it has ever delivered in the U.K, the Isothermic High-Rate Sustainable Structures (IHSS) project. Backed by funding through the ATI Programme, IHSS aims to revolutionize production efficiency, reducing large component manufacturing times from approximately 40 hours down to just 4. It is dedicated to developing and testing new technologies needed to meet future demand for lighter commercial aircraft and help the aviation industry’s commitment reach net zero by 2050. It builds on Boeing’s longstanding commitment to the U.K., and to South Yorkshire specifically, following the opening of its first European manufacturing facility in Sheffield in 2018. 

Loop Technology (Dorchester, Bristol and Sheffield, U.K.) is a key partner in both the COMPASS facility and the Boeing-led IHSS project. The company’s FibreLINE robotic preforming system enables ultra-high-rate composites manufacturing, increasing efficiency for manufacturing large aerospace components. In addition, Loop serves as the robotic systems integrator, ensuring seamless integration and operation of all the equipment as a fully sequenced, end-to-end manufacturing solution 

To meet soaring global production targets and achieve the U.K.’s net-zero ambitions, the manufacturing industry must move beyond traditional, manual processes. COMPASS addresses this head-on by combining advanced composites with Industry 4.0 digital technologies — including closed-loop machine vision and digital twin modeling — that reduce material waste, component weight and defects while optimizing cycle times.

By proving these capabilities at TRL 6, the facility de-risks high-rate manufacturing for the entire supply chain. It also removes the high cost-barriers of advanced industrial equipment, enabling U.K. companies — including SMEs — to develop more efficient manufacturing solutions so they can compete within global supply chains.

Key to this is the state-of-the-art equipment within COMPASS funded through a £29.5 million grant from the ATI Programme, a partnership between the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), Department for Business and Trade and Innovate UK.

The unprecedented scale of the facility centers around Langzauner’s (Lambrechten, Austria) resin transfer molding (RTM) press — reportedly the “world’s largest for integral aerostructural parts” — boasting a 2,400-tonne pressing force and a tool size of up to 10 × 3 meters. 

Operating adjacent to a 21.4-meter Zünd (Altstätten, Switzerland) cutting table, the cell features an automated FibreLINE deposition system developed by Loop. Here, two 5-meter FibreFORM grippers handle the delicate material, mounted on two of FANUC’s (Oshino-mura, Japan and Rochester Hills, Mich., U.S.) largest industrial robots and supported by three additional FANUC robots. This five-robot fleet operates along an 85-meter track, leveraging real-time sensor data to dynamically adjust to material behavior during the high-rate build process.

Furthermore, the innovations developed here will extend far beyond aviation, helping the wider U.K. industry adopt sustainable, cost-effective component solutions across the defense, renewable energy, transport and urban air mobility sectors. 

The Multifunctional Fuselage Demonstrator (MFFD) was conceived in 2014 under the EU-funded Clean Sky 2 initiative with an ambitious mandate: Produce an 8-meter-long, 4-meter-diameter fuselage section entirely from carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites. What followed was a decade-long, continent-spanning collaboration — Airbus leading, with aerospace companies, research institutes and universities across Europe contributing to dozens of interlocking sub-projects, each tackling a different piece of the manufacturing puzzle. 

The result is the largest aircraft structure ever fabricated from thermoplastic composites (TPC) — and one assembled without a single drilled hole, using continuous ultrasonic welding, resistance welding and conduction welding to join its components. Getting there required that partners not only develop new materials and processes, but prove they could hand work off across borders and institutions without losing coherence. 

Now the structure exists. By the project’s close, overall technology readiness level (TLR) for such a fuselage had advanced to TRL 5 — a meaningful milestone, but still several steps from a production line. The harder questions are just beginning: How do these welding processes scale? Who qualifies them for flight? And which aircraft program will be first to put them to the test?

Liquid hydrogen liquefies at -253°C — just 20° above absolute zero — cold enough to embrittle most structural materials, while hydrogen molecules are small enough to permeate through any gap. It’s a punishing operating environment, and conventional cryogenic fuel lines, built from aerospace-grade stainless steel with metallic flanges and adhesive interfaces, weren’t designed with weight or integration in mind. 

Herone GmbH (Dresden, Germany) has spent several years re-engineering that problem from first principles, combining tape braiding and press molding to produce unitized carbon fiber/LMPAEK thermoplastic composite (TPC) fuel lines. Co-consolidated integral flanges form a continuous thermoplastic material system with the tube body, eliminating separate metallic hardware entirely — and projecting a 50-60% reduction in line system weight compared to stainless steel.

The target applications span liquid hydrogen aircraft propulsion and space launchers, with implications for anyone watching how composites enable the next generation of clean aviation infrastructure.