Prime Minister launches scheme to promote new flying technologies
Prime Minister Boris Johnson launched the £300m Future Flight Challenge yesterday, committing Government support to the development of new technology within the UK aerospace industry.
The announcement was made as part of the Aerospace Sector Deal agreed between Government and industry in December 2018.
The Future Flight Challenge receives £125m from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, alongside industry investment of up to £175 million. The Challenge will support the development of advanced new aerospace technologies such as electric propulsion systems which will reduce the environmental impact of flying. It will also assist with the development of major new innovations in urban air transport.
‘Fast track electrification of flight’
Chief Executive of aerospace trade association ADS, Paul Everitt, said: “The Future Flight challenge will help UK industry to maximise the opportunity of developing and manufacturing the cleaner, quieter and more technologically advanced aircraft of tomorrow.
“Our innovative aerospace industry is set to fast-track the electrification of flight, explore the global potential of new urban mobility solutions and pioneer autonomous aviation. This new era of technological progress in aviation will help to both tackle global environmental challenges and create new industrial opportunities that can bring prosperity to communities across the UK.”
The Global Urban Air Summit, taking place at Farnborough on September 3 and 4, will bring industry together with regulators and others to discuss some of these new technologies.
The first Future Flight Challenge competition, to create compelling concept studies, will open on 30 September 2019. There will be a briefing about the competition by videoconference on the morning of September 5; details of how to register for the briefing will be released at: https://apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/competition/search
