London, 6 July, 2023 (GNP): Airbus has announced its latest state-of-the-art Wing Technology Development Centre (WTDC) at its Filton site in Southwest England.
Nusrat Ghani, the UK Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade, introduced the facility on Wednesday. This event signifies Airbus’s commitment to further investing in its UK innovation capabilities and fostering collaboration between industry and government.
However, the development came amid fierce competition with Boeing, which recently unveiled its ultra-light concept known as Transonic Truss-Braced Wings.
According to the aerospace company, the new Wing Technology Development Centre will serve as a hub for creating and testing of wings for next-generation aircraft, by leveraging the latest technological advancements and world-leading demonstrators to further improve the performance of its wings.
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Since 2014, Airbus has been receiving significant funding of £117 million from the Aerospace Technology Institute for research related to the Wing of Tomorrow. This financial support allows Airbus to invest in cutting-edge facilities like WTDC to further strengthen research and technology capabilities in the UK.
Alongside, Airbus aims to further improve wing performance, ultimately enhancing fuel efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions. The aerospace company said this will likely reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Sue Partridge, Airbus Head of Filton Site, emphasized the significance of the new facility, stating, “The new Wing Technology Development Centre will help us ground our research in practicality. A key element of how we deliver technology for next-generation aircraft wings is through Wing of Tomorrow (WoT), our largest research and technology programme led by the team in the UK,” he said.
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Recently, Airbus achieved a major milestone in the Wing of Tomorrow program with the completion of its second wing demonstrator in Broughton, Wales, and delivered to WTDC. The demonstrator will undergo rigorous structural testing at the Aerospace Integrated Research and Technology Centre (AIRTeC).
Additionally, the WoT program allows Airbus to unveil new assembly and manufacturing technologies to benefit future generations to fly with convenience.
