FUTURE

The Clean Aviation SRIA outlines the ambitious technology roadmaps required to meet the climate-neutrality goal envisioned by "Fly the Green Deal", focusing on disruptive aircraft concepts powered by hybrid-electric, hydrogen, or ultra-efficient thermal engines. However, the successful European development and de-risking of these transformative technologies – such as high-aspect-ratio wings and integration of various propulsion systems – are fundamentally dependent on the capabilities of Europe's ground-testing infrastructure: advanced Strategic Wind Tunnels testing capabilities are required to ensure development and certification of future commercial aviation programs. The primary objective of FUTURE is to improve strategic EU wind tunnels to extend testing capabilities towards the needs of new aircraft configurations and significantly reduce aircraft development time, from wind tunnel model design to data delivery at reduced cost. FUTURE will deliver advanced, interoperable capabilities focused on key areas like pioneering propulsion integration and aeroelasticity, thereby de-risking and accelerating entry-into-service of novel propulsion concepts and the next aircraft generation, that are looked at within other major running Clean Aviation and Horizon Europe projects. Coordinated by NLR, FUTURE teams up a consortium of 17 partners from 10 European countries consisting of Europe’s leading research establishments in the field of wind tunnel testing, top-notch facility providers (DNW, ONERA, ETW) and completed by 5 SMEs with complementary expertise on flow visualization measurement systems, big data analysis and security, artificial intelligence-based approaches. This ambitious 4-year, 15,5 MEuros valued action is supported by a strong Advisory Board formed from Clean Aviation Industrial Leaders but also of a number of startups and SMEs targeting the development of novel aircraft configurations and the electrification of aviation.