GKN Aerospace has been selected as a core partner in two projects within the EU's 'centrepiece aeronautics research programme', Clean Sky 2. The company is to make a major contribution to the Engines project, led by Safran, Rolls-Royce and MTU and the Large Passenger Aircraft (LPA) project, led by Airbus.

Work will take place at the company's aero-engine engineering centres of excellence in Sweden and Norway. These teams will design, develop and manufacture complex structural parts as well as rotating parts for full scale aero-engine integrated technology demonstrators (ITD). The company will employ a number of innovative processes and technologies, new automation techniques, novel joining processes and additive manufacturing technologies to create the parts, with the goal of lowering weight by 15 - 30%.

Robert Lundberg, Director EU R&T Programmes at GKN in Trollhättan explained: “Clean Sky 1 brought remarkable levels of technological progress and, with the expansion of the programme in Clean Sky 2, we will take these innovations far closer to market readiness through a programme of full scale demonstrators. The Clean Sky 2 programme target is to deliver real, break-through technologies that will help the industry achieve challenging ACARE goals, including 50% reductions in future aircraft emissions. We are extremely proud that our engine systems expertise will play such an important role in the industry achieving these critical goals.”

The GKN Aerospace Engine Systems business is a global leader in engine components with a presence on almost all today's aero-engine programmes. The operation has strong customer partnerships with life-of-programme positions on many existing engine platforms. GKN Aerospace - Engine Systems designs and manufactures components including: turbine, combustor and compressor structures; fan blades, cases and blisks; compressor rotors; LPT (low pressure turbine) cases; shafts and vanes. Its combination of lightweight metallic and composites capabilities has created a distinctive offering to the market.