GKN Aerospace Selected as Core Partner in Clean Sky 2 Programme

GKN Aerospace has been selected as a core partner in two projects within the EU’s ‘centrepiece aeronautics research programme’, Clean Sky 2.

GKN will make a major contribution to the Engines project, led by Safran, Rolls-Royce and MTU and the Large Passenger Aircraft (LPA) project, led by Airbus.

Work will take place at the company’s aero-engine engineering centres in Sweden and Norway. The teams will design, develop and manufacture complex structural parts as well as rotating parts for full scale aero-engine integrated technology demonstrators (ITD).

The company will employ a number of innovative processes and technologies, new automation techniques, novel joining processes and additive manufacturing technologies to create the parts, with the goal of lowering weight by 15 - 30%.

Robert Lundberg, Director EU R&T Programmes at GKN in Trollhättan explained, “Clean Sky 1 brought remarkable levels of technological progress and, with the expansion of the programme in Clean Sky 2, we will take these innovations far closer to market readiness through a programme of full scale demonstrators. The Clean Sky 2 programme target is to deliver real, break-through technologies that will help the industry achieve challenging ACARE goals, including 50% reductions in future aircraft emissions. We are extremely proud that our engine systems expertise will play such an important role in the industry achieving these critical goals.”