- £39.6M ASCEND consortium to develop and accelerate high volume composite technologies
- Public-private investment and cross-sector collaboration across UK industry aims to create more than 700 UK roles by 2035
- Consortium strengthens UK industry’s position at forefront of next generation of sustainable aircraft and future mobility technology
GKN Aerospace is leading a new UK industry consortium called ASCEND (Aerospace and Automotive Supply Chain Enabled Development) to develop and accelerate composite material and process technologies for the next generation of energy efficient aircraft and future mobility.
The £40m consortium, funded by a £20.0M commitment from industry and a £19.6M commitment from the UK Government via ATI, will focus on greater adoption of composite technologies today, the industrialization of new technologies, as well as accelerating aerospace production rates to meet future high-volume requirements. The collaboration will help develop technologies from across the UK supply-chain to develop the advanced materials and automation equipment required to manufacture lightweight structures for the sustainable air mobility, aerospace and automotive industry.
Partners
Assyst Bullmer, Airborne, Cobham Mission Systems Wimborne, Cygnet Texkimp, Des Composites, FAR-UK Ltd, Hexcel Composites, Hive Composites, LMAT, Loop Technology, McLaren Automotive, the National Composites Centre, Rafinex, Sigmatex (UK) and Solvay Composite Materials will join GKN Aerospace in the consortium with collaboration and investment support from Axillium Research. Through a 3-year commitment, the partnership, backed by the UK government, will bring together expertise, capabilities and resources from across the wider UK aerospace and automotive supply chain. In doing so, ASCEND will strengthen the UK’s position as a technology leader in future lightweight structures and help to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions in the aerospace and automotive industry.
The consortium will be led from GKN Aerospace’s £32M Global Technology Centre in Bristol and will support up to 130 jobs through 2023/24. GKN Aerospace will use its long-term experience and in-depth knowledge of composite engineering for integrated airframe structures throughout the project.
Role of Airborne in ASCEND
ASCEND provides Airborne a platform to build upon existing technology to accelerate the application of automation and digitalisation for high rate, cost effective manufacturing of next generation dry-fibre based composite structures, and to highlight the business case to collaborators at all levels of the value chain.
Joe Summers, Managing Director Airborne UK said: “Airborne is delighted to be part of the ASCEND project which aligns perfectly with our scale-up plans in aerospace, automotive and future air mobility, and will enable significant investment in the UK organisation to develop next generation automation and digitalisation technology for dry and impregnated composite material handling”
GKN Aerospace proud of the consortium
John Pritchard, President Civil Airframe GKN Aerospace said: “GKN Aerospace has deep knowledge and expertise in composite technology and we are proud to lead this consortium. Accelerating the next-generation of lightweight, cost effective advanced composite technologies is critical for the aerospace and automotive industry and its move to more energy-efficient aircraft and vehicles. Ensuring we can not only develop these technologies, but also manufacture them at high-rate across the UK supply chain, will maintain our position as an industry leader and underpin our commitment to sustainability. Combined with the Aerospace Technology Institute, which is providing vital support for the UK’s position on the next generation of aircraft, we will be able to deliver breakthroughs in technology as well as benchmark levels of price, quality and repeatability.“
More news/ press releases
Full press release by GKN Aerospace – GKN Aerospace and partners launch ASCEND to accelerate high volume composite technologies: https://www.gknaerospace.com/en/newsroom/news-releases/2021/gkn-aerospace-and-partners-launch-ascend-to-accelerate-high-volume-composite-technologies/
Press release: £90 million boost to fire up aerospace manufacturing – Investment in five projects could secure 1400 jobs across the UK by Governement: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/90-million-boost-to-fire-up-aerospace-manufacturing
