R&D&I activities for the development of future zero-emission aircraft (both in terms of decarbonisation and the emission of other air pollutants such as NOx, VOCs, etc.), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and aeronautical systems, are embedded in the Aeronautical Technology Plan (PTA) already established in the Recovery Plan. The prioritised components in the PTA are:
- Hydrogen-based power systems, hydrogen tanks, control systems and their structure would be the fundamental components of this development, thus forming a complex subsystem with a high technological integration value.
- Applications of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in areas such as: environment, agriculture, parcel transport, security, human transport, etc., with high potential in terms of efficiency and reduction of emissions.
- Systems, such as avionics, on-board equipment, actuation and control, systems for traffic management, communications, simulation, etc.
The PTA will promote new emerging technologies as a potential source of optimisation and continuous improvement in the aeronautical sector to increase future growth thanks to their easy adaptation in areas such as:La optimización aerodinámica de las aeronaves y su adecuación a cada fase de la misión que permite reducir consumos y aumentar la eficiencia de las aeronaves y su operación.
- Aerodynamic optimisation of aircraft and their adaptation to each phase of the mission, reducing consumption and increasing the efficiency of aircraft and their operation.
- Structural optimisation and the use of new materials, combined with new manufacturing and/or 3D printing processes.
- Management systems with Artificial Intelligence included in various aircraft subsystems.
ACT01: Zero-emission aircraft, UAV and aeronautical systems, has the general objective of supporting cooperative business R&D projects in aeronautical technologies, which contribute to achieving some of the challenges identified in relation to:
- Technologies focused on reducing emissions: zero-emission aircraft.
- UAS.
- Systems.
- Intelligent and advanced manufacturing: Digitalisation.
These projects are supported with a subsidy managed by the Industrial Technological Development Centre (CDTI), and three PTA calls were launched in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Beneficiaries are business groups, with a budget reserved for groups composed of SMEs.
Execution and results
As for their budgetary execution, the 2021, 2022 and 2023 calls have an allocated budget of €40, €80 and €41.7 m, respectively.
A total of 31 projects have been awarded in the 2021 and 2022 calls to 143 beneficiary companies, of which 91 are SMEs. These projects will outsource research activities to 149 universities, research associations or technology centres. Proposals submitted in the 2023 call are in the process of being evaluated.
The first PTA projects began their execution on 31/01/2022, so it is too early to obtain technological results. The list of approved projects, as well as the participating organisations, can be found in the links of the calls.