Boeing Announces Multi Billions in Orders and Agreements
Strengthening its position as the global leader of the aerospace industry, Boeing has booked historic orders and showcased its innovation and strategy for growth at the Airshow. Boeing announced a total of USD98.4 billion in orders and commitments for commercial airplanes at list prices and USD2.1 billion in commercial and defence services orders and agreements during the closing of the industry portion of the show.
“Boeing led the way at Farnborough, demonstrating value for our customers, capturing important new business in products and services, and announcing the unique strength of our strategic partnership with Embraer,” said Chairman, President and CEO, Boeing, Dennis Muilenburg.
Marking an outstanding week for order capture in commercial aviation, with customers announcing 673 orders and commitments in total, Boeing reflected a continued resurgence in demand for freighters and strong order activity for the 737 MAX and 787 passenger airplanes. Boeing also secured 48 orders and commitments for the 777F, five for the 747-8F. This reflected continued strengthening in the cargo market globally.
The orders comprise an additional 75 737 MAX 8 aeroplanes placed by Jet Airways and is currently being valued at USD8.8 billion.
Boeing also confirmed that Vistara Airline, the joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Group, has agreed to order six 787-9 Dreamliners. This includes options for four more jets at the 2018 Farnborough International Airshow.
Revealing its 2018 Commercial Market Outlook at the Farnborough Airshow, Boeing has raised its 20-year outlook for commercial airplanes and services to USD15.1 trillion.
Boeing also announced its collaboration with artificial intelligence company SparkCognition to deliver unmanned aircraft system traffic management (UTM) solutions at the show.
Finally, the show marked the launch of a new brand campaign, ‘The Future is Built Here’, highlighted by a dynamic exhibit that featured interactive virtual and augmented-reality displays that showed visitors Boeing’s commercial and defence products, service offerings and future innovations.
Lockheed Martin Introduces FireHerc
The LM-100J ‘FireHerc’, was introduced by Lockheed Martin at the Airshow. The FireHerc is a civil-certified firefighting air tanker variant of the proven C-130J Super Hercules which the airlifter of choice for 18 nations around the world.
The LM-100J is the commercial freighter production model of the C-130J Super Hercules and an updated version of the legacy L-100 commercial Hercules freighter. The LM-100J flew at and on static display at this year’s FIAS.
A commercial freighter production model of the C-130J Super Hercules, the LM-100J is an updated version of the legacy L-100 commercial Hercules freighter. The new model is even flying at and on static display at this year’s Farnborough International Airshow.
“With the presence of wildfires increasing on a global scale, there is a real-time need to provide more advanced assets to protect our people, communities and environment,” said vice president and general manager, Air Mobility & Maritime Missions at Lockheed Martin, George Shultz. He added, “As a variant of the C-130J Super Hercules, the FireHerc delivers a powerful combination of established, performance advantages and innovative technology that will truly change the way we fight and defeat wildfires.”
Rolls-Royce Demos Future of Robotics
Demonstrating the future of robotics use case scenarios, Rolls-Royce, at the Farnborough International Airshow 2018 showed an exciting vision of how robotics could be used to revolutionise the future of engine maintenance. Rolls-Royce teamed up with academics from the University of Nottingham and Harvard University to discuss and demonstrate a wide range of potential future technologies at the Airshow.
The technologies on display were at varying levels of maturity, and included:
- SWARM robots – a set of collaborative, miniature robots, each around 10mm in diameter which would be deposited in the centre of an engine via a ‘snake’ robot. These robots would carry small cameras that provide a live video feedback to the operator.
- INSPECT robots – a network of ‘periscopes’ permanently embedded within the engine, enabling it to inspect itself using the periscope cameras to spot and report any maintenance requirements.
- Remote boreblending robots –a robotic boreblending machine that can be remotely controlled by specialist engineers.
- FLARE – a pair of ‘snake’ robots which are flexible enough to travel through an engine.
Speaking at the event, senior vice president marketing, Rolls-Royce, Richard Goodhead, said, “The advancements we are making in robotics are a great example of us bringing our IntelligentEngine vision to life. By exploring how we might use the rapid progress we are seeing in fields such as digital and robotics, we are ensuring that Rolls-Royce will continue to lead the way in service innovation, offering the very best value for our customers.”
On-Wing Technology Specialist, Rolls-Royce, Dr James Kell, added, “While some of these technologies, such as the SWARM robots, are still a long way from becoming an everyday reality, others, such as the remote boreblending robot, are already being tested and will begin to be introduced over the next few years.
GA-ASI Expands Collaboration with GKN Aerospace
GKN Aerospace declared their intent to collaborate with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA ASI) on manufacturing composite tails for GA-ASI’s Predator B Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) series via a Letter of Interest (LoI) signed at the show.
“We are pleased to expand our relationship with GKN Aerospace as part of our growing industrial collaboration team in the UK,” said CEO, GA-ASI, Linden Blue. He further added, “We have seen the results of GKN Aerospace’s extensive experience in advanced composite manufacturing first-hand and look forward to working with its team.”
“We are proud to have the opportunity to be involved in the manufacturing of a key component of the proven Predator B aircraft family,” said vice president business development defence, Aerostructures and Systems Europe and Asia, GKN Aerospace, Michiel van der Maat.
Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 Engine to Power the New Airbus A330neo
Visiting the Farnborough Airshow of Airbus’s latest aircraft, the new Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines have been chosen to power the A330neo. The aircraft will enter service later this year and will be exclusively powered by the Trent 7000 engines, the seventh and latest iteration of the successful Rolls-Royce Trent engine family. Making final preparations for the engine to enter into service, Rolls Royce will receive formal certification to fly very shortly.
President civil aerospace, Rolls-Royce, Chris Cholerton, said, “The team at Rolls-Royce is excited to see the A330neo arrive at Farnborough. The Trent 7000 brings together the latest technology from the Trent XWB and combines it with architecture from the Trent 1000 TEN and more than 50 million hours of flying experience from the Trent 700.”
Safran Extends Contracts with Spirit AeroSystems
Spirit AeroSystems has renewed its confidence in Safran Electrical & Power to provide electrical harness manufacturing and installation services
These contract extensions include more than 50 assemblies for the Boeing Next-Generation 737 and 737 MAX pylon wire harnesses, Boeing 787 guard wire assemblies and wire harnesses for the 767 Tanker. The harnesses will be produced in the Safran Electrical and Power North America plants in Denton, Texas, and Chihuahua, Mexico, while installation services will be provided on-site at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas.
“We have a long-term collaboration with Spirit AeroSystems that spans more than a decade. Our business with this customer began with activities on the Boeing 787 and has since grown to include manufacturing and services support for additional airframes”, said director of sales and marketing of the division EWIS Americas of Safran Electrical & Power, Steve Mears.
Airbus and International SOS Sign MoU on Drone Cargo Delivery Systems
Airbus and International SOS, the world’s leading medical and security risk services company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on July 18, to jointly study the viability of using aircraft or unmanned systems to deliver medical cargo and supplies.
Under the agreement, Airbus will help to define and install reliable aircraft or unmanned aerial medical cargo deliveries as part of International SOS MedSupply services.
“We hope to develop a viable business partnership where we can assist International SOS with unmanned medical cargo delivery. This means using our cutting-edge technology to potentially save lives, and transform the medical and travel security industry,” said CEO, Airbus Defence and Space, Dirk Hoke.
CEO, chairman and co-founder of International SOS, Arnaud Vaissié said, “Bringing together the Airbus expertise in securing aerial deliveries, and our global infrastructure assisting clients worldwide, is a clear move towards a greater efficiency. We are always striving to provide our clients with excellent customer service and this innovative venture will enable us to look into furthering our capabilities and enhancing our service.”
Elettronica and Indra Collaborate for Direct Infrared Countermeasure
Elettronica Group and Indra presented their collaboration in the development of a next generation Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) based Direct Infrared Countermeasure (DIRCM) system suitable to protect rotary and fixed wing aircrafts.
The two companies have already completed the development of a first EuroDIRQM prototype system, with QCL operational ground tests successfully performed in March, with the kind cooperation of the Italian Air Force.
The EuroDIRQM is conceived as ‘all-in-one’ equipment usable for multi-platform and multi-mission that will provide self-protection capabilities to all kind of aircrafts, from helicopters to transport/ tanker to jet aircraft.
DIRCM systems are self-protection airborne solutions to protect aircrafts from the impact of heat-seeking missiles and are specially required for protection against MANPADS missile attacks.
GKN Aerospace is Growing Footprints in India
GKN Fokker Elmo and the State of Maharashtra (India) have signed an MoU for investment in a second manufacturing facility for wiring interconnection systems in India on July 18.
The new site, a fully owned GKN Aerospace business, is located in Pune in the state of Maharashtra and is scheduled to come on line in the fourth quarter of 2018. Production will start in the first quarter of 2019 the work force is expected to grow to 800 in 2027.
The site will focus on the assembly of wiring systems for commercial aircraft and will operate alongside the existing joint venture for wiring systems in Bengaluru which is serving the defence market.
CEO Aerostructures and Systems Europe and Asia, John Pritchard said, “This electrical wiring systems site will be the first aerospace facility fully owned by us in India. It strengthens our enduring partnership with this country. The support of the regional government has been vital, we look forward to the opening of the site at the end of this year.”
Airbus and Singapore to Co-Develop Digital Services for Military Aircraft
Airbus and Singapore’s Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) have agreed details of the first initiative under their recently announced digital technology collaboration – the development of 3D-printing of spare parts to be initially trialled on Singapore’s new fleet of A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (A330-MRTT) aircraft.
Under the terms of an implementation agreement, Airbus will support DSTA in designing and certifying parts produced by additive manufacturing for the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) aircraft.
Head of military aircraft services at Airbus Defence and Space, Stephan Miegel, said, “It is absolutely clear that digitalisation represents the future of military aircraft services and we are now at a point where we can begin to explore the most promising techniques on operational fleets. We greatly appreciate the innovative approach of DSTA in going on this journey with us.
“Following this first agreement on 3D-printing, we have further agreed to collaborate on data analytics for predictive maintenance. The collaboration will add on to the development of Airbus’s new SmartForce suite of maintenance data analytics launched at Farnborough,” added Miegel.
Safran Receives Airbus Customer Services Award
On July 18, Airbus awarded Safran Electrical & Power the Customer Services Award, which is an excellent recognition in customer services for the power generation and distribution systems. This award, which confirms Safran Electrical & Power as one of Airbus’s best suppliers, was received at the airshow.
Only eight out of the 43 suppliers evaluated won the Customer Services Award. The suppliers are ranked using three criteria: the evaluation from the airlines that operate Airbus aircraft, the Airbus teams in charge of customer support and vendor management, and the operational performance metrics.
“This award recognises the continuous efforts made by our Power division, specialist in power generation and distribution systems. The Power division has moved up 30 places into the airlines ranking within three years and for two years has confirmed its position among Airbus TOP10 suppliers, proving our ambition for an excellent support to our customers,” said director of customer support & services at Safran Electrical & Power, Vincenzo Guerriero.
USS Wasp First-Ever Carrier to Use Raytheon’s New Guided Landing System
Early in 2018, US Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II fighters deployed to the Pacific aboard the USS Wasp amphibious assault ship, and used Raytheon’s Intelligence, Information and Services business’s Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) to guide them onto the ship’s deck in all weather and surface conditions up to the rough waters of Sea State 5.
The system allows precise landings through GPS receivers and an encrypted, jam-proof datalink.
“We’re asking our pilots to land in some of the most difficult conditions on Earth,” said programme manager, Naval Air Traffic Management Systems Program Office, US Navy Captain B. Joseph Hornbuckle III. “JPALS goes a long way toward ensuring the safety of our aircrews and the success of our missions.”
JPAL’s precision navigation is equally effective ashore. A land-based version of the system can be small enough to be either dropped into an austere environment via parachute or driven in on a trailer.
“Deploying with the F-35 is a good start, but it’s just the beginning,” said vice president, navigation, weather and services, Raytheon, Matt Gilligan. “There are many fixed and rotary wing aircraft around the world and across the services that deploy to harsh, low-visibility environments where JPALS would be extremely valuable.”
The system is slated to go into production in 2019.
GA-ASI to Equip Royal Netherlands Defence Force with Predator UAS
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA‑ASI), the world’s leading manufacturer of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), has been selected to provide UAS to the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF). This decision follows consideration by the ministry of defence for the Netherlands.
“We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to meet the UAS requirements of the Royal Netherlands Air Force,” said CEO, GA-ASI, Linden Blue. “We are committed to providing a NATO-interoperable solution that enhances the ISR capabilities of the Netherlands and the Alliance.”
GA-ASI will deliver its Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper Medium Altitude, Long-endurance (MALE) UAS to the Dutch military. The existing MQ-9 fleet has logged over two million operational flight hours with the USAF, UK RAF, Italian and French Air Forces, NASA and the US DHS. The Spanish Air Force is scheduled to take delivery of MQ-9 systems in 2019.
Thyssenkrupp Aerospace and DTL Forge a Multiyear Partnership
Thyssenkrupp Aerospace, a company belonging to Thyssenkrupp Business Area Materials Services, and Dynamatic Technologies Limited (DTL) will enhance their cooperation by signing a multiyear partnership agreement. The aviation experts of the Thyssenkrupp Group will manage the supply of raw materials as the supply chain for Dynamatic Technologies.
“The new partnership with DTL is a recognition of our global capabilities and confirms our role as a supply chain service provider to the aerospace industry,” said CEO, Thyssenkrupp Aerospace, Laura A. Holmes. “We understand our customer’s needs and have designed a customised solution that allows our customer to focus on what they are best at.”
DTL, located in Bengaluru India, Swindon UK and Schwarzenberg Germany, is one of the leading Indian companies providing aircraft components and, among other things, is a supplier to Airbus. DTL manufactures components and assembles the flap track beams for the Airbus A320 and A330 models at locations in India and the UK.
“The strategic collaboration with Thyssenkrupp Aerospace is an important step for us to grow and achieve our ambitions in the aerospace market in India,” said managing director, Dynamatic Technologies Limited, Udyant Malhoutra.
Rolls-Royce Powers New Airbus BelugaXL Transporter on First Flight
Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines powered Airbus’s new BelugaXL air transporter on its first flight from Toulouse, France. The aircraft is the first of five new aircraft that will replace the current Airbus Beluga fleet and features a distinctive whale-themed livery.
The BelugaXL is based on an Airbus A330 design and the Trent 700 has established itself as the clear engine of choice on this aircraft type, with 90 per cent market share over the last three years. More than 1,600 engines are in service today and the Trent 700 has been selected by 88 operators.
Trent 700 programme director, civil aerospace, Rolls-Royce, Adair Swan commented, “We are very proud to be powering the BelugaXL for Airbus. As well as being a plane-spotter’s delight, aircraft like these have a very special role to play in bringing the aerospace supply chain to life. The Trent 700 engine is the perfect engine to support this critical process, with more than 50 million flying hours under its belt.”
Airbus Launches AirSense and Signs Strategic Partnership with Aireon
Airbus Defence and Space has launched AirSense, an advanced analytics solution enabled by multi-source surveillance data, based on global Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data. AirSense is based on various aircraft positions data feeds.
The agreement signed at the air show forms a strategic partnership between Airbus and Aireon, provider of global, space-based ADS-B data. This partnership is enabling AirSense to accurately track any aircraft in real-time and identify flight-related events around the globe.
Executive vice president, Airbus Defence and Space, Evert Dudok said. “We are very proud to have Aireon as a strategic partner to Airbus. Their unique, global space-based ADS-B data will enable Airbus to apply its domain expertise and with AirSense further develop aggregated, live and predictive analytics serving at large the aviation industry with trusted insights.”
CEO, Aireon, Don Thoma said, “Our strategic partnership with Airbus allows us to combine Aireon’s unique data with AirSense offerings bringing more value to the broader airspace community.”
Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 Gets Ticket to Fly
The Rolls-Royce Trent 7000, which powers Airbus’s latest aircraft, the A330neo, has on July 20, received its ‘ticket to fly’ from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), with the first production engines also delivered to the Airbus facility in Toulouse, France.
The Trent 7000 is the fourth Rolls-Royce engine to receive formal certification in just 12 months, following in the footsteps of the Trent 1000 TEN, Trent XWB-97, and Pearl 15. The certificate was presented to Rolls-Royce by certification director, EASA, Trevor Woods at the Airshow.
President, civil aerospace, Rolls Royce, Chris Cholerton said, “This is another great milestone in a period of unprecedented activity for us. Certifying and delivering the Trent 7000 engine further strengthens our position on the latest generation of aircraft and I would like to thank everyone at EASA and Airbus, as well as my own Rolls-Royce colleagues, who have worked so closely to get to this point. We now look forward to supporting Airbus and TAP Air Portugal as they prepare for the aircraft to enter into service later this year.”
Zephyr S Set to Break Aircraft World Endurance Record
Zephyr S, Airbus’ High-Altitude-Pseudo-Satellite, has surpassed the current flight endurance record of an aircraft without refuelling of 14 days, 22 minutes and 8 seconds and continues to pioneer the stratosphere.
The Zephyr aircraft departed for its maiden flight from Arizona, USA on July 11.
This first flight of the Zephyr S aims to prove and demonstrate the aircraft capabilities, with the final endurance record to be confirmed on landing.
Airbus Launches SmartForce
Airbus Defence and Space together with Airbus Helicopters launched the SmartForce suite of services to enable military operators to exploit the data gathered by their aircraft to enhance operational safety, boost mission availability and reduce maintenance support costs. Operators can benefit from services to improve troubleshooting, optimise maintenance effort, predict maintenance actions and plan smartly for material demand.
The system incorporates on-site private data clouds to support specific military security requirements but also lays the ground for operational data-sharing between willing allies.
The resulting enhanced decision-making reduces the maintenance burden and boosts fleet availability.
Head of military aircraft services at Airbus Defence and Space, Stephan Miegel said, “SmartForce helps military operators to accelerate their own digital transformation in order to allow them to improve their operational readiness. Our vision is to enable data-driven new capabilities to support our customers in extracting more value from our in-service products. By breaking information siloes, Airbus teams can more rapidly perform root-cause analysis and faster trouble shooting, providing our customers with more efficient customer support.
“Our digital analytics services support the goal of enhanced mission readiness of our operators’ aircraft. They optimise maintenance practices, enable better informed and data-driven decision-making, and provide predictive solutions which all contribute to reduced workload and costs.”
EVP Support/ Services, Airbus Helicopters, Matthieu Louvot said, “SmartForce will play a key role in fulfilling our greater goal of supporting our customers by leveraging the value of data for simpler, safer and more efficient operations.
GA-ASI MQ-9B Provisioned for GPS and Galileo Satellite Navigation Systems
In an effort to increase flexibility for its customers throughout the world, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. announced on July 16, that MQ-9B will be able to utilize both the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) and European Galileo satellite constellation for its navigation systems. The baseline MQ-9B was originally designed to include a triplex navigation system based on GPS navigation however, provisions have been added to the navigation receiver to support the Galileo navigation system as well.
“Many of our US and international partners have plans to produce multi-constellation navigation receivers,” said President, Aircraft Systems, GA-ASI, David R. Alexander. “The multi-constellation receivers will add to the operational flexibility of the MQ-9B and will benefit our international and domestic customers, especially those based in Europe.”
Rolls-Royce Welcomes UK Government Funding for All-Electric Flight Research
Rolls-Royce on July 16 welcomed funding from the UK government which will enable it, together with new partner YASA, to carry out ground-breaking research aimed at accelerating the adoption of all-electric propulsion in aviation.
Rolls-Royce is leading a research project known as Accelerating the Electrification of Flight (ACCEL) to explore the use of a high power electrical system in a demonstrator aircraft. We are working with YASA (UK), a manufacturer of high-power, light weight electric motors and controllers used in automotive, aerospace and industrial applications. Drawing on Rolls-Royce’s expertise in aviation design and safety, the project aims to flight test the system to gain a detailed understanding of the potential for electric flight. Rolls-Royce will be supported by Electroflight Ltd (UK), specialists in high performance electric powertrains including energy storage systems.
Director, Electrical, Rolls-Royce, Rob Watson said, “We are delighted to be leading this research partnership. We are already investigating the potential of hybrid-electric propulsion, building on our existing expertise in applications such as hybrid trains and gas turbine-powered naval vessels, but this funding from the UK government will enable us to explore the potential of all-electric flight.
CEO, YASA, Chris Harris said, “We’re excited to be working with Rolls-Royce on integrating our high-power, light weight electric motors into a pure electric demonstrator aircraft.”
Safran Enables Flight Data Analysis of the Entire All Nippon Airways Fleet
With Cassiopée AGS (Analysis Ground Station), now installed fleet-wide, All Nippon Airways is the first airline in the world to have connected its Safran flight data management systems to a cloud, rather than servers, through the SITA solution. This innovative approach means that information can be shared in real time, with simultaneous access to the software from different ANA databases across Japan.
The Japanese airline is at the cutting edge of flight safety. The airline’s 258 airplanes are all being monitored by Cassiopée AGS to improve flight safety by ensuring that pilots are closely involved in the process. The flight data management Cassiopée AGS automatically sends data to ANA’s 3D flight visualization systems, allowing flight crews to replay their flights immediately after landing.
“We are very proud that a prestigious customer like All Nippon Airways selected our Cassiopée AGS system for all of their aircraft,” said senior vice president, sales and marketing, avionics division, Safran Electronics & Defence, Florence Minisclou.
Director, safety promotion and flight data analysis, All Nippon Airways, Hideo Morioka added, “We chose the Cassiopée AGS system from Safran Electronics & Defence because we wanted the best flight data management system on the market. We would also like to thank Safran’s team for their support in installing Cassiopée AGS in our fleet.”
Airasia X Selects Additional 34 Airbus A330neo Aircraft
Rolls-Royce welcomed a decision by AirAsia X to select a further 34 Airbus A330neo aircraft, powered by the Trent 7000 engine. The decision takes the total number of AirAsia X A330neos on order to 100, the largest Rolls-Royce powered single-type of widebody.
The AirAsia X engines will be supported by TotalCare, the flagship Rolls-Royce CareService, which maximises engine reliability and aircraft availability. The announcement also supports the UMW Aerospace facility in Malaysia, which provides Trent 7000 fan cases to Rolls-Royce.
CEO, Co-Group, AirAsia X, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said, “We went through a lot of work with Rolls-Royce to ensure this is the right engine for the long haul low-cost market. We are convinced that this is a great product and we appreciate the transparency and openness of Rolls-Royce in assisting us in our decision to take the Trent 7000.”
President, civil aerospace, Rolls-Royce, Chris Cholerton, said, “AirAsia X continue to display impressive growth and we are proud, once again, to be supporting their ambitions. The Trent 7000 is performing extremely well in flight testing and we look forward to a smooth entry into service with AirAsia X.”