Safran and Archer collaboration produces avionics technology for Archer’s Midnight eVTOL aircraft

Safran Electronics & Defense and Archer Aviation Inc. shared details of their ongoing collaboration on cutting-edge avionics technology, which kicked off back in 2021. This collaboration is focused on delivering groundbreaking solutions to Archer that utilizes Safran Electronics & Defense’s industry-leading components that have a proven track record of safety and performance. The two companies have initially focused their development and testing on Safran Electronics & Defense’s ultra-compact avionics platform (UCAP) flight control computer (FCC) and SkyNaute navigation system, which are both used in Archer’s Midnight eVTOL aircraft.

Archer’s use of Safran Electronics & Defense’s UCAP FCC and SkyNaute navigation system is a key element of its goal of achieving the most efficient path to certification. For Midnight, Archer is focused on sourcing leading technology from world-class aerospace suppliers with certification expertise. Safran Electronics & Defense is a global leader in safety-critical software and hardware for the aviation industry.

Equipped with a powerful multi-core processor, Safran Electronics & Defense’s UCAP provides high-performance computing capabilities, as well as high-integrity and safety features. SkyNaute adheres to the safety and reliability requirements necessary for certification by relying on mature and proven technologies such as HRG Crystal (Hemispherical Resonator Gyroscopes). This innovative navigation system achieves high performance and integrity while providing a 35% reduction in size and weight when compared to alternatives.

Safran signs agreement with Electra to develop turbogenerator for its hybrid-electric aircraft

Safran Helicopter Engines has signed an agreement with Electra.aero to develop the 600 kW electric turbogenerator propulsion system for the prototype of Electra's nine-passenger hybrid-electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft.

This turbogenerator is an essential component of the disruptive hybrid-electric propulsion architecture for Electra's low-carbon aircraft. A turbogenerator consists of a gas turbine combined with one or more electric generators, as well as an innovative system of electrical power and voltage regulation. Safran Helicopter Engines will develop the Electra turbogenerator on the basis of its Arrano turboshaft engine and is leveraging Safran's broad expertise in electrical equipment, starting with Safran Electrical & Power, which will supply the two GENeUS electrical generators. Safran Helicopter Engines has already ground-tested several types of turbogenerators at various power levels.

"Safran Helicopter Engines is extremely proud to collaborate with Electra. We've closely evaluated the advanced air mobility market, and we believe the Electra eSTOL aircraft offers groundbreaking capability in a practical design that meets market needs of both today and tomorrow while being backed by a team with decades of experience to enable its success," said Florent Chauvancy, Safran Helicopter Engines Executive Vice-President, OEM Sales. "We will be bringing to their project all the expertise we have independently developed in the field of hybrid-electric propulsion, combining electric and thermal energy sources, to develop the right turbogenerator for Electra's first nine-passenger prototype aircraft. Our recent tests in this field are a strong indicator of success for Electra's aircraft."

"Electra has carefully studied aircraft electrification and we believe that hybrid propulsion is key to providing emissions and cost reductions while preserving useful payloads, ranges, and speeds for our customers – ultimately, building a better aircraft. The turbogenerator is the heart of this hybrid propulsion system. Safran Helicopter Engines is integrating a class-leading, modern turbine with their high efficiency generators and backing it with a strong support network. Safran's motto is Powered by Trust and we're proud to be Powered by Safran," said JP (James) Stewart, Electra's Vice-President and General Manager.

Airbus and engine maker Safran agree deal on 2024 engine output

The European planemaker Airbus and the French engine-maker Safran have confirmed today they have reached a deal on 2024 engine supplies for 2024, which could be a sign of the ramp-up in production rates of the A320 jets.

Whilst no concrete numbers were given to the press at a briefing, Chief Executive Olivier Andries did say that it was equivalent to levels in mind before the crisis.

Airbus had previously advised it wanted to press ahead with plans to raise monthly output to 70 in the first quarter of 2024 and maybe as high as 75 a month during 2025. Currently, it is producing around 50 aircraft a month, which is set to rise to around 61 by the end of the year. 

"We have an agreement with Airbus for quantities in 2024," Andries said, "It corresponds to the quantity that we had committed to before the crisis and given (this), we were naturally able to reach agreement on a quantity to supply in 2024," 

On wider issues, Andries told how the Russian invasion and subsequent war in Ukraine has affected the company, "2022 has started off well with Q1 organic growth at 17%, in line with our full-year guidance in a difficult context of significant air traffic volatility in China, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, supply chain tensions and inflationary pressure. 

We are taking vigorous steps to offset fully the margin impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and inflation, notably additional savings in all Group entities and strict control in the phasing of expenses.

Commercial momentum is still building up with meaningful contracts booked since the beginning of the year."

Prior to sanctions being imposed, Safran's commercial activity in Russia featured engine and equipment supplies for a number of aircraft programmes, including Sukhoi Superjet 100, MC-21 and Kamov 62 & Kamov 226 helicopters. It also carried out service activities for CFM engines powering approximately 500 Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft operated by Russian airlines.

Q1 output:

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AerCap and Safran Sign Joint Venture Agreement for Shannon Engine Support

AerCap Holdings has announced that following its acquisition of the GE Capital Aviation Services business, it has signed a 20-year joint venture agreement with Safran Aircraft Engines ("Safran") regarding Shannon Engine Support ("SES"). SES, the leading provider of spare engines for CFM International, is now a 50/50 joint company between AerCap and Safran.

SES, the world's largest lessor of CFM56 and LEAP engines, will continue to provide lease engine support to CFM and CFM operators. Aengus Kelly, CEO of AerCap, said, "The SES business is a great fit within the AerCap portfolio, with similar expertise, common assets and a complementary customer base to our wholly-owned engine leasing business. This partnership extends our longstanding relationship with Safran, one of the world's leading aviation companies. We look forward to working with the team at Safran to drive continued success at SES."

Aviation Industry Chief Technology Officers Issue Joint Call to Action to Deliver Sustainable Aviation Plans

Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) of seven of the world's leading aerospace manufacturers have reaffirmed their commitment to achieving more sustainable aviation and to reaching industry-wide Air Transport Action Group targets in a joint statement. This statement updates a commitment made by a unified group of CTOs in June 2019 as part of a shared position to support the aviation sector's ambition to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The CTOs of Airbus, Boeing, Dassault Aviation, GE Aviation, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, and Safran will also issue a call to action to policymakers, research institutions, suppliers, fuel producers and airport operators to build on the progress made in recent years and deliver on the aviation sector's sustainability agenda.

The joint statement comes as the CTOs come together to discuss progress in aviation sustainability at a pre COP26 event and industry showcase held in London by ADS, the organisation that represents the aerospace, defence, security and space industries in the United Kingdom.

The CTOs of each company have committed to working together to focus on three core areas of aviation technology:

Advancing the state-of-the-art in aircraft and engine design and technology

Supporting increased availability and adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and investigating hydrogen as a fuel of the future

Continuing to develop novel technologies that will eventually enable net-zero carbon aviation while maintaining the safety and quality standards of the industry.

The seven CTOs, whose firms have spent over $75B in R&D combined over the past five years, are calling for:

A sustained and planned approach from policymakers to support the development of novel technologies and stimulate the ramp-up of SAF and green hydrogen production capacity

A globally consistent approach to regulation and certification standards

Collaboration between research institutions and aerospace suppliers in the development of the new technologies

Investment in SAF production capacity by fuel producers

Investment by airport operators in the infrastructure required to support novel aviation technologies

Since the 2019 joint commitment, actions taken by the seven companies towards achieving net-zero carbon emissions have ranged from improvements to the fleet-in-service today and technologies for the future:

Airbus announced its ambition to deliver the world's first zero-emission aircraft by 2035, unveiling three hydrogen-powered concept aircraft that highlight the company's commitment to developing this high-potential technology for commercial aviation. Airbus is also engaged in 100% SAF climate-impact projects that are a part of its overall roadmap towards certification for the entry-into-service of 100% SAF on its fleet by 2030.

Boeing committed that their commercial airplanes will be capable to fly on 100% SAF by 2030, continues to test new technologies on its ecoDemonstrator program and announced a partnership with SkyNRG and SkyNRG Americas to scale up SAF. Boeing and Kitty Hawk also formed Wisk, a joint venture to advance the future of urban air mobility with more than 1,500 test flights of its self-flying, all-electric air taxi. Boeing completed a fifth hydrogen flight test program; this time with subsidiary Insitu on their ScanEagle3 unmanned aerial vehicle which was powered by a proton exchange membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cell.

Dassault Aviation actively promotes the use of SAF and its Falcon range is already SAF-compatible. Within Clean Sky 2 at the European level and France's civil aviation research council (Corac), Dassault Aviation's work focuses on lowering fuel consumption by reducing aircraft drag and weight. With the European Sesar program, Dassault Aviation works to improve flight efficiency and fuel consumption through the use of specially-tailored flight paths. Dassault Aviation is also involved in Corac projects related to the use of hydrogen in future aircraft.

GE Aviation is maturing a megawatt-class integrated hybrid electric powertrain to demonstrate flight readiness for single-aisle aircraft with NASA, and is leading industry efforts to define standards for 100% SAF.

GE and Safran jointly launched the CFM RISE (Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines) program in June 2021 to demonstrate and mature disruptive technologies including open fan and hybrid electric targeting more than 20% lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions compared to today's most efficient engines. Program goals include ensuring 100% compatibility with SAF and hydrogen.

Pratt & Whitney announced a major new investment towards developing a hybrid-electric flight demonstrator, in partnership with De Havilland Canada, Collins Aerospace, and the Canadian government, targeting a 30% improvement in fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions compared to current regional turboprop aircraft. Pratt & Whitney is also developing technologies for a more efficient engine core and recently opened a new engineering and development facility in Carlsbad, California, dedicated to ceramic matrix composites (CMC) to support this effort. It is continuing to validate engines operating with up to 100% SAF.

Rolls-Royce has joined the UN Race to Zero and has pledged to prove all its Trent engines – accounting for 40% of the world's long-haul fleet – are compatible with 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by 2023, aligned with the UN Race to Zero breakthrough on SAF take-up by 2030. It has tied its SAF compatibility goals to executive remuneration and has tested two widebody and one business jet engine types on 100% SAF; and signed an MoU with Shell agreeing to develop and accelerate the use of SAF. It has developed and flown what it expects to be the world's fastest all-electric aircraft and signed agreements in the all-electric and UAM markets with customers to power products due to fly by the middle of this decade.

Safran has created a strategic partnership with TotalEnergies to accelerate the reduction of CO2 emissions of the aviation industry by jointly working for the development and deployment of SAF that could completely replace fossil kerosene in current and future engines.  Safran and Airbus will leverage the skills and test facilities of their JV ArianeGroup to prepare hydrogen technologies for aviation.

In their joint statement, the CTOs note that flying today uses 80% less fuel per Revenue Passenger Kilometer (RPK) than it did fifty years ago and that aviation accounts for 2.5% of all man-made CO2 emissions, while generating 4% of global GDP and supporting 88 million jobs.

Full call for action can be found here. 

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GE Aviation and Safran launch sustainable engines programme.

John Slattery, President and CEO of GE Aviation and Olivier Andriès, CEO of Safran sign the agreement.                Photo: Business Wire

GE Aviation and Safran today launched a bold technology development programme targeting more than 20 percent lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions compared to today’s engines. The CFM RISE (Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines) programme will demonstrate and mature a range of new, disruptive technologies for future engines that could enter service by the mid-2030s.

The companies today also signed an agreement extending the CFM International 50/50 partnership to the year 2050, declaring their intent to lead the way for more sustainable aviation in line with the industry’s commitment to halve CO2 emissions by 2050.

“The relationship between GE and Safran today is the strongest it has ever been,” said John Slattery, President and CEO of GE Aviation. “Together, through the RISE technology demonstration programme, we are reinventing the future of flight, bringing an advanced suite of revolutionary technologies to market that will take the next generation of single-aisle aircraft to a new level of fuel efficiency and reduced emissions. We fully embrace the sustainability imperative. As we have always done in the past, we will deliver for the future.”