Feb 13 2007
The British Government is investing in a £17.4m project to provide computer technology to bring the next generation of aircraft into production in the UK.
The project, which will also boost the UK's car and boat industries, comes on top of a £34 m DTI-backed wing technology project recently launched by the Secretary of State Alistair Darling at the Airbus factory in Broughton in North Wales.
The project announced today will put £8.7m of Government money, through the DTI-led Technology Programme, towards another Airbus-led consortium, to develop computer-based simulation software dramatically improving the design process for future aircraft.
Alistair Darling said: "Britain is already a world leader in aerospace and we want to keep it there. This investment supports the type of new technology we need.
"It again puts this country at the forefront of greener transport technology. Cutting energy consumption and waste in the design process. That is why we are right behind it."
The project, called the CFMS Core Programme, will radically cut the time between concept stage and a marketable product. It will speed up testing by using computer-based simulation.
By 2012 computer-based simulations will replace physical testing, meaning parts of the aircraft design process could be reduced to 36 days, instead of 350. The technology will also be used in the marine and automotive industries.
The programme will bring together research teams and projects that have wide application across many sectors of the UK's industrial base where we already have significant strength including: medical research, vehicle design and motorsport, energy and environment services the food and other process industries.
The CFMS Core Programme is part of the National Aerospace Technology Strategy (NATS). The CFMS Core Programme is the third major aerospace programme that Alistair Darling has launched for developing new technology for the aerospace sector, including Integrated Wing, a £34 million programme, with £17million in Government funding, working to design the wings of future aircraft and the ASTRAEA programme (£16m Government funding).
The three-year CFMS Core Programme has been match funded by industry, keen to position the UK as a world leader in advanced simulation technology.
http://www.gnn.gov.uk/