The UK Ministry of Defence has awarded a £9 million contract to AERALIS, the transformational British military jet developer, for digital engineering support services. Referred to as ‘Digital Aviation Learning from Experience,’ the contract will allow the MOD to access information that AERALIS will generate using its innovative, smart integrated digital enterprise system.
The UK-based firm has developed a smart integrated digital enterprise system to enable the company to develop a family of light military aircraft in shorter timescales and at reduced cost using a fully integrated digital approach to design, development, and certification. The learning from AERALIS’s approach will be leveraged by the UK MoD to reduce cost and risk for a range of other development programs, including UK Combat Air and the Future Combat Air System.
“The learning that we will get from Aeralis will support digital engineering across our FCAS enterprise, providing us with the information we need to be able to make informed decisions on this program as it progresses,” said Richard Berthon, Director of Future Combat Air for the Ministry of Defence.
The new aircraft are expected to be the first fully British manufacturer, designed, and engineered military jets since 1976 when the Hawk was introduced. This also shows that the UK has finally started investing in and supporting more of its own aircraft. It was initially suggested that the Red Arrows may have had to fly non-native aircraft for the first time because of the retirement of the renowned Hawks in 2030.
This landmark contract marks an important step in AERALIS’ growth and maturity, signifying that AERALIS’ unique design engineering approach has been recognized as fulfilling an essential requirement for the future of affordable military aircraft design and development in the UK. There are now over 135 people involved in the development of the aircraft across 16 organizations in the UK. The contract from the MOD will allow AERALIS to create and sustain a further 250 highly skilled jobs and many more in the supply chain.
“This MOD contract is another exciting step towards rejuvenating the UK’s sovereign ability to develop whole aircraft ready for the future,” AERALIS’s Founder & CEO, Tristan Crawford, said. “We are looking forward to exploiting our digital foundation to boost innovation, create jobs and drive the progress of AERTEAM. It proves that AERALIS is truly unique – we are the only company in the UK taking this pioneering digital engineering approach as part of a new economic model that supports the development of more capable and ultimately affordable light military aircraft, marking an important milestone in the development of the first wholly British crewed aircraft since the 1970s.”
