The UK’s Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) has today launched its new technology strategy which sets out how UK companies can work together to ensure Britain retains its place as the world’s second-largest aerospace industry in a global market that is expected to be worth $5 trillion over the next two decades.
The ATI is one of the central themes that emerged from the development of the Aerospace Growth Partnership (AGP) – itself one of a number of ‘industrial strategies’ that are considered, by both UK and global industry, to be game-changing.
The strategy focuses on a number of key strategic goals to ensure the UK remains a competitive and global Aerospace leader. These include:
- Maintaining the UK’s position as a global leader in wing and wing component design and supply
- Ensuring the UK remains market leader in large civil turbofan engines, with a competitive supply chain for propulsion sub-systems and components
- Remaining globally competitive in complex systems such as power, communications and landing gear; able to provide differentiated technologies and coherent products and services to global primes, OEMs and aircraft operators
- Continue to establish the UK as a centre for whole helicopter design, integration and manufacture.
Whilst this technology strategy is firmly focused on the future, the ATI has been active in investing in projects already underway. Since the announcement of ATI in 2013, more than 100 projects have been initiated, addressing a wide range of technologies. Approximately half the initial £2.1 billion government & industry funding commitment has been allocated to innovation and new infrastructure.
Examples of projects which have been supported by the ATI include:
- A £12m STeM (Structures Technology Maturity) programme – designed to develop improvements in areas such as composite material simulation, tooling and automation. Knowledge generated has already been applied to products including the Bombardier CSeries and the Airbus A350.
- A £134m investment lead by Rolls-Royce and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, on utilising state of the art equipment and high calibre process specialists to bridge the gap between early research and industrial exploitation.
- A project by Airbus, Messier- Bugatti-Dowty (MBD), the University of Sheffield, the University of Swansea, and Carpenter, a North American partner, for the development and application of next generation steel in aircraft landing gears.
The ATI’s ongoing projects and the overall focus of the technology strategy which has been launched today, are strong examples of Industrial Strategy in action. The concept of industrial strategy is not government telling industry what to do – and nor is it industry dictating its views onto government. It provides a genuine partnership where government and industry invest both time and resource equally in ensuring world leading capabilities we have in the UK, stay in the UK.
This is particularly important for the UK’s Aerospace industry. We are the 2nd largest Aerospace industry in the world, achieving revenues of nearly £30bn and exporting more than we import. Our productivity levels over the past 6 years have been 50% larger than those of the overall UK economy, and we employ more than 110,000 people – on wages 50% higher than the national average. In order to maintain our world-leading edge, as well as the significant impact our industry can have on the future growth and re-balanced direction of the UK economy, continued support and investment in industrial strategy is vital. It will ensure that we not only secure our current standing, but grow our future position.
