We know that no single system or technology will deliver the level of change required to achieve and ultimately surpass global emissions targets. This is why we are working with airports, airlines, aircraft OEMs, academia and supply chain partners to research and develop a suite of bold, game-changing technologies.

Although GKN is not an aircraft OEM, we develop notional aircraft concepts to help us understand and re-imagine structures and systems for future generations of aircraft. We use these concepts to explore the requirements of future aircraft, and use these requirements to drive the development of realistic solutions that will have a lasting impact on our industry and society.

As a major Tier 1 supplier of composite and metal airframe structures, gas turbine technology and electrical wiring systems to name but a few, GKN Aerospace is well placed to understand the potential risks and opportunities that arise with major changes such as the introduction of Hydrogen Electric Propulsion (HEP), hydrogen combustion or associated changes such as ‘dry wing’ architectures that no longer store fuel in the wings.

Addressing big challenges, such as climate change, requires big ideas and great collaboration. GKN Aerospace collaborates across a diverse ecosystem, and leads major research and development partnerships such as H2GEAR, which is supported by the UK Aerospace Technology Institute. These partnerships are critical for maturing the enabling high-performance technologies that will make our zero emissions aircraft vision a reality.

One key goal for GKN Aerospace is to invest in technologies that really ‘move the dial’ on emissions. Moving the dial means applicability at scale – it is not enough to deliver technology that only works on a small portion of the overall fleet. In order to ensure we are investing in technologies that scale well, we conduct trade studies to understand how different system architectures, subsystem types and operating efficiencies play out over different aircraft size classes and mission profiles.