НАТО увеличит многонациональный парк транспортов-заправщиков A-330 MRTT до 9 машин
ЦАМТО, 1 октября. Компания Airbus объявила о получении от Организации по сотрудничеству в области закупки вооружений (OCCAR) твердого заказа на поставку дополнительного многоцелевого транспорта-заправщика A-330 MRTT (Multi-Role Tanker Transport) в интересах НАТО.
Заказ самолета является реализацией опциона к базовому контракту и увеличивает многонациональный парк транспортов-заправщиков ЕС/НАТО MMF (Multinational MRTT Fleet) до девяти самолетов.
Закупка, которую OCCAR производит от имени Агентства поддержки НАТО (NSPA), следует за решением Люксембурга максимизировать свое участие в программе формирования MMF с увеличением количества летных часов с 200 до 1200. Самолет будет сконфигурирован для дозаправки в воздухе, перевозки пассажиров и грузов, а также операций по медицинской эвакуации.
Как сообщал ЦАМТО, проект закупки самолетов MRTT был инициирован Европейским оборонным агентством (EDA) в 2012 году в связи с недостатком современных самолетов-заправщиков на вооружении ВВС европейских государств.
В июле 2016 года МО Нидерландов официально уведомило парламент страны о подписании с Люксембургом меморандума о взаимопонимании, предусматривающего реализацию проекта совместной закупки A-330 MRTT. С Airbus Defence and Space было подписано соглашение, предполагающее поставку первых двух самолетов, включающее опционы на поставку 6 дополнительных A-330 MRTT после присоединения к проекту других стран. В 2017 году к программе присоединились Германия и Норвегия, в 2018 году Бельгия, а в 2019 году – Чехия.
OCCAR, действуя от имени Агентства поддержки НАТО (NSPA), управляет программой на этапе приобретения самолетов и их обслуживания в течение первых двух лет эксплуатации. После этого ответственность за эксплуатацию флота примет на себя NSPA.
В настоящее время программа MMF финансируется Нидерландами, Люксембургом, Норвегией, Германией, Бельгией и Чешской Республикой, которые будут обладать эксклюзивными правами на применение самолетов, находящихся в распоряжении НАТО. Как планируется, ВС Германии получит право эксплуатации самолетов в течение 5500 часов в год, ВС Нидерландов – 2000 часов в год, ВС Бельгии – 1000 часов, Люксембурга – 1200 часов, Норвегии и Чехии – по 100 часов в год. Позднее, в случае присоединения других стран к программе, могут быть заказаны еще три самолета.
Самолеты будут выполнены в конфигурации для пассажирских и грузовых перевозок, дозаправки в полете всех существующих и перспективных истребителей (F-35, «Рафаль» и «Тайфун»), а также медицинской эвакуации.
Первый самолет (MMF1) прибыл на авиабазу «Эйндховен» (Нидерланды) с предприятия Airbus в Хетафе (Испания) 30 июня 2020 года, второй (MMF2) – 10 августа 2020 года. «Эйндховен» является основной авиабазой, где будет размещаться флот самолетов A-330 MRTT стран НАТО. Кроме того, они будут применяться с авиабазы в Кельне (Германия). Самолеты MMF3 и MMF4 в настоящее время проходят переоборудование в Хетафе и должны быть поставлены в октябре-начале ноября 2020 года и начале 2021 года, соответственно. MMF5 прибыл в Хетафе с предприятия Airbus в Тулузе в начале мая, а остальные самолеты должны быть переоборудованы и переданы в период до 2024 года.
Airbus has shown its green vision, but can Boeing follow suit?
By Flight International5 October 2020
On the face of it, the big two airframers are taking very different approaches to future aircraft designs – and crucially their propulsion systems.
By revealing a trio of concepts, each based on a hydrogen powertrain, Airbus has nailed its colours to that particular mast.
Notably, the company argues that battery technology is not improving quickly enough to support its introduction on commercial aircraft within a 15-year development horizon.
Meanwhile, in Seattle, Boeing has seemingly taken an opposing position, arguing that technological and regulatory hurdles will prevent hydrogen power’s uptake in the near term.
Source: Airbus
In the meantime, the airframer’s focus remains on the incremental gains to be researched via its ecoDemonstrator programme.
It could be argued, of course, that these two world views are not mutually exclusive and to some extent depend on the definition of “near term”.
Besides, Boeing is right: there are huge obstacles for hydrogen to overcome before it can be rolled out for widespread use: new propulsion architectures and onboard storage systems must be developed; regulators have to be convinced it is safe; and the logistics of providing the fuel at airports needs to be addressed.
And, without a means to produce hydrogen via low-carbon methods, its clean credentials can vanish.
In addition, the benefits from lower noise and small percentage-point improvements in fuel consumption will be felt by airlines today – not decades in the future.
Nonetheless, the fact that Airbus is so clearly championing a new propulsion technology – and attempting to claim the high ground around the decarbonisation of aviation – speaks volumes.
The airframer certainly has its own financial and structural issues to deal with on the back of slumping demand for new airliners, but it is at least attempting to spark debate about the industry’s direction.
Boeing, on the other hand, seems paralysed; there are so many fires burning in Seattle – several ignited by its own actions – that management attention seems to be entirely absorbed.
Perhaps the US airframer is working away in the background on its big idea for what a next-generation airliner looks like, but at the moment, those efforts are not at all clear.
While it is tempting to blame Boeing’s stasis on the twin blows of the 737 Max and the market, perhaps other factors are also at play.
When it unveiled a multibillion-euro bailout for the aerospace industry in June, the French government was careful to tie its largesse to improvements in environmental performance for fear of angering the increasingly influential green lobby. Meanwhile, the current US administration is led by an arch-climate change denier.
Every organism adapts to its changing environment or ultimately faces extinction. That truism also applies to business: whither Kodak, for instance?
Airbus clearly believes that the world in which it operates is changing and it must change too. Boeing is presumably not blind to the reality of the market, but the question remains whether the blood and treasure required to deal with its immediate crises will leave it hamstrung in the long term.
Airframers
ATR plots path to low-carbon future in conjunction with shareholders
By Dominic Perry2 October 2020
Regional turboprop manufacturer ATR is in discussions with its joint shareholders Airbus and Leonardo over plans to develop low-emission technologies on the aircraft and hopes by early 2021 to have identified a future strategy.
ATR chief executive Stefano Bortoli tells FlightGlobal that talks with its owners are ongoing “so they could consider ATR as a platform on which new technologies could be introduced”.
Source: ATR
Airbus in particular has in recent weeks been vocal about the need to decarbonise aviation and last month unveiled design concepts for a trio of hydrogen-powered aircraft.
Bortoli believes the twin-turboprop ATR 42 and 72 are ideal platforms on which to trial new technologies, likely some form of hybrid-electric propulsion.
“There are a number of solutions we have explored so far that we have reviewed with our engineering department and I think we see a hybrid aircraft as a solution – then it is a matter of what hybrid mean in terms of different elements.”
While he says it is “too early to say” what fuel would be used on such an aircraft, “we believe the ATR has the dimensions and size as a platform to be considered as the right platform to test future concepts to reduce emissions or come to a zero-emission aircraft”.
Bortoli hopes that a “way forward” can be agreed by the shareholders “by the beginning of 2021”.
Launching its support package for aviation in June, the French government identified the development of a “decarbonised regional aircraft” – for service entry in 2035 – as a project which would attract funding support.
However, despite its Toulouse headquarters, ATR is not “100% French” says Bortoli, and while the airframer’s shareholder is discussing how it could join that effort “for the time being we cannot confirm or deny direct participation in such a plan”.
In addition, ATR is working with long-term customer Air New Zealand to identify what changes would be required to an airline’s operations, such as maintenance or training, to facilitate the uptake of new propulsion technologies.
Current ATR aircraft are powered by Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127M engines.
At Airbus a hydrogen-powered aircraft takes shape | DW | 25.09.2020
At Airbus a hydrogen-powered aircraft takes shape
Airbus wants to launch a plane that is completely CO2 neutral by 2035 with the help of hydrogen-powered engines. It's a big step away from fossil fuels and toward a cleaner future up in the sky.
It doesn't exactly look like an aviation revolution. Airbus's newest aircraft design study glides through cloudless skies accompanied by celestial music — in an animated video. On a closer look it becomes evident though that the back of the fuselage doesn't have any windows at all (see photo below). On top of the vertical stabilizer there is something sticking out that looks a bit like an antenna.
These characteristics show that this indeed might be a breakthrough. "In the aft part of the aircraft, behind the pressure bulkhead of the cabin, the hydrogen tank is located, and the nozzle on top of the stabilizer serves to let off gas in the case of a leak," explained Airbus Chief Technology Officer Grazia Vittadini at a recent presentation of the company's first studies on hydrogen-powered airliners.
The aim is ambitious: By 2035 Airbus wants to bring the world's first emission-free passenger aircraft to market.
Moving away from fossil fuels
For this, the European manufacturer came up with three competing concepts, one of which shall become reality. Under strong pressure from politicians mostly in France and Germany, Airbus wants to be at the forefront of the transformation, accelerating aviation's move away from fossil fuels and fostering decarbonization.
A computer animation of the turbofan concept aircraft. One of three Airbus designs
Germany has already developed its own hydrogen strategy. France pledged in early September to invest €7 billion ($8.1 billion) in hydrogen technology. So Airbus's venture comes at exactly the right time.
"This is an historic moment for the commercial aviation sector as a whole," said Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury about this "bold vision." Vittadini stressed "these exciting concepts are also intended to inspire future generations of engineers."
Hydrogen is difficult to handle
The idea to use hydrogen instead of kerosene as the energy source for aircraft engines isn't exactly new, but it is still challenging to turn into reality. That's why until today there is a lack of aircraft concepts that are up to harsh day-to-day use as well as economical operations.
Aircraft manufacturing in crisis
Hydrogen is not easy to care for. Compared to kerosene, it has three times the energy density, which is a big advantage over batteries, and only weighs a third as much. But planes need up to four times the volume to keep them in the air. And space is notoriously scarce and thus precious on any aircraft.
On top of that — and this makes things very demanding — hydrogen is a so-called cryogenic fuel: A gas that only liquefies at minus 253 degrees Celsius (minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit). And even then, it can only be used for propulsion if compressed under high pressure. This necessitates a double-walled, cylindrical or spherical tank.
Back in 1988, engineers in what was then the Soviet Union modified a three-engine Tupolev Tu-154 airliner in a way that the right engine was powered by hydrogen. They called the test bed Tu-155.
Revolutionary but conventional
Hydrogen can be used on aircraft in different ways: For direct combustion in modified gas turbines, converted to electrical energy via fuel cells or as synthetic kerosene, produced in combining it with CO2.
"We have to redesign the aircraft around this concept," said Vittadini. In doing this Airbus proposes a trio of different concepts.
The first concept is the conventional looking turbofan design described at the beginning of this article. It is able to carry 120 to 200 passengers on routes of up to 3,700 kilometers (2,300 miles), meaning it is neither capable of doing long-haul flights nor transcontinental flights.
The concept aircraft is slightly smaller than the current base model A320neo, operated by Lufthansa among others, but achieves the same speed of over 800 kilometers per hour also operating on hydrogen.
A computer simulation of Airbus's turboprop concept aircraft
The second concept is a turboprop aircraft with propellers, taking up to a hundred passengers on short-haul routes and achieving 600 kilometers per hour, making it about a hundred kilometers per hour faster than current turboprops. Both designs feature modified gas turbines for propulsion, complemented by a hybrid electrical motor run by fuel cells.
It is all kept fairly conventional on purpose, "so we don't have to invest in completely new technologies," explained Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury.
Going for the Flying V
But there is also a third, disruptive concept: the hydrogen-powered Blended Wing Body design. Its wings and fuselage form one continuous aerodynamic body. This design is deemed the preferred one for future aircraft, such as the Flying V study recently unveiled in the Netherlands by airline KLM and the Delft University of Technology.
"The blended wing is aerodynamically the most advantageous model to integrate hydrogen tanks," Vittadini told DW. "But that doesn't mean that it is the ultimate solution for all other parameters."
The Flying V concept aircraft from KLM and Delft University of Technology in a computer simulation
Airbus's initiative is also getting support from the science world. "The world is ready for it and Airbus has seized the opportunity," Dragan Kozulovic, professor for flight propulsion at the Hamburg University for Applied Sciences, told DW.
He finds it remarkable that the designs make do completely without using kerosene. He also thinks the planned entry into service by 2035 is realistic. Kozulovic sees the turboprop design as the most probable winning concept. But then, he stresses, it is crucial for its success that the necessary infrastructure for hydrogen operations on the ground is put into place, from production to storage and tanking. "That is a mammoth task," he said.
Hydrogen is only sustainable if produced from "green" energy, for example solar or wind power. Still Kozulovic objects to Airbus billing its concepts, called ZEROe, as being entirely "emission free."
Even if no CO2 is emitted, combusting hydrogen still produces water vapor, causing contrails in the skies that have a climate impact, as well as nitric oxide. "These aircraft will be significantly better, but not emission free," he explained.