Airbus and Singapore to Co-Develop Digital Services for Military Aircraft

Singapore’s Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) and Airbus have agreed details of the first initiative under their recently announced digital technology collaboration – the development of 3D-printing of spare parts to be initially trialed on Singapore’s new fleet of A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (A330-MRTT) aircraft.

Under the terms of an implementation agreement signed at the Farnborough Airshow in England this week, Airbus Defence and Space will support DSTA in designing and certifying parts produced by additive manufacturing for the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) aircraft.

“It is absolutely clear that digitalisation represents the future of military aircraft services and we are now at a point where we can begin to explore the most promising techniques on operational fleets. We greatly appreciate the innovative approach of DSTA in going on this journey with us,” said Head of Military Aircraft Services at Airbus Defence and Space, Stephan Miegel. “Following this first agreement on 3D-printing, we have further agreed to collaborate on data analytics for predictive maintenance. The collaboration will add on to the development of Airbus’s new SmartForce suite of maintenance data analytics launched at Farnborough.”

SmartForce is a suite of services to enable operators to exploit aircraft data to improve troubleshooting, optimize maintenance effort, predict maintenance actions and plan smartly for material demand.

The RSAF has acquired the A330 MRTT and the first aircraft will be delivered to Singapore in the coming months.

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