Rolls-Royce teams with ITP for UltraFan

The flight test campaign of the Neuron Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle in Italy has been successfully concluded with the achievement of all established goals, thus allowing an important step forward for the programme. Neuron is the European full-scale technological demonstrator for an Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) developed by an industrial team led by Dassault Aviation with the collaboration of Finmeccanica-AleniaAermacchi, Saab, Airbus Defence and Space, RUAG and HAI. The aircraft was deployed at the Italian Air Force Decimomannu Air Base, in Sardinia, Italy, where it fulfilled a series of important operational tests. The 12 highly sensitive sorties have verified the characteristics of Neuron’s combat capability, its low radar-cross section and low infrared signature, during missions flown at different altitudes and flight profiles and against both ground-based and air radar “threats”, using in this latter case, an Eurofighter Typhoon.

Rolls-Royce is to work with ITP to support a €43 million research programme to test Intermediate Pressure (IP) turbine technologies for future engine design, UltraFan; which will be available for service from 2025, will offer at least 25 per cent improvement in fuel burn and emissions compared with first generation Rolls-Royce Trent engines. ITP will develop and validate intermediate pressure turbine and rear structure capabilities for the UltraFan engine demonstrator including design, development, testing and manufacture. The IP turbine programme, which is receiving €23.5 million of its total funding from the EU, is part of the wider EU Clean Sky 2 initiative. The remainder of the funding will come from ITP. Clean Sky 2 runs until end 2023, and is a public/private Joint Technology Initiative that brings together Europe’s industrial aeronautics leaders, public research organisations and SMEs to develop and demonstrate breakthrough technologies for the civil aerospace market, reducing emissions and noise and securing the continued competitiveness of the European aviation industry.