Spirit AeroSystems and Albany Engineered Composites collaborate to expand hypersonic capabilities

Spirit AeroSystems, Inc. and Fiber Materials, Inc. (collectively Spirit), subsidiaries of Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. and Albany Engineered Composites, a subsidiary of Albany International Corp. have formally entered a technical collaboration agreement to capitalise on the their unique capabilities to deliver a suite of differentiated technical and industrialised solutions to more rapidly support hypersonic program developments.

The combination of Spirit's ultra-high temperature composites and structures capabilities, along with Albany Engineered Composites' experience of producing high volumes of 3D woven, near-net shape composites, creates an unmatched expertise and capacity to design, develop, and manufacture a wide range of scalable, highly adaptable, and affordable Thermal Protection Systems solutions for hypersonic missions.

"The biggest challenge facing the Department of Defense and primes in hypersonic programs is the need for scalable and affordable thermal protection systems that can be tailored to each mission and optimised for performance," said Mark Miklos, Vice President, Hypersonic Solutions at Spirit. "This collaboration enables elegant technical solutions while reducing the risk in accelerating program timelines and scaling to production."

"By working together and leveraging our proprietary technologies and state-of-the-art manufacturing processes, Spirit and Albany Engineered Composites are expected to achieve superior hypersonic design solutions not possible before this collaboration launched," said Greg Harwell, President of Albany Engineered Composites. "These synergies should assist with eliminating a serious market constraint and will deliver better results."

The collaboration brings together years of unique and complimentary skillsets, lowering the risks of manufacturing hypersonic capable large acreage and aeroshell configurations. Combining Albany Engineered Composites' 3D woven near-net-shaped composites technology with Spirit's densification processes, should exceed hypersonic design requirements, increase production output, reduce waste, and lower cost. This collaboration also improves response time to challenging developmental timelines to meet industry demands.