At a groundbreaking ceremony today with Agnes Pannier-Runacher, the French Secretary of State to the Minister of the Economy and Finance, Collins Aerospace celebrated the launch of a new propeller Center of Excellence at its legacy Ratier facility in Figeac, France. The state-of-the-art 3,000 square meter advanced factory addition will support advanced design, engineering, testing, manufacturing and maintenance capabilities for future propeller technologies and is expected to be fully operational in 2020. Collins Aerospace is a unit of United Technologies Corp..

The new center will enable Collins Aerospace to develop enhancements for existing propellers, new systems for future turboprops and disruptive technologies for next-generation aircraft, while also helping to reduce cycle times for customers through increased automation. The center's advanced engineering capabilities are expected to enable Collins Aerospace to optimize propeller designs that improve aerodynamics, while reducing weight, fuel consumption and noise for a propeller that is more environmentally friendly. To help airlines reduce maintenance time and costs, Collins Aerospace will also use the center to design a propeller with prognostic health monitoring capabilities as part of the company's overarching focus on developing more intelligent aircraft of the future.

"As a world leader in high-power propellers for commercial and military platforms, Collins Aerospace has been at the forefront of propeller innovation for more than 110 years, in the USA and in Europe," said Propeller Systems GM Jean-Francois Chanut. "Now, we're preparing to disrupt the industry once again with new technologies that our Propeller Center of Excellence will help us bring to market. This Center represents our commitment to providing our customers worldwide with optimized solutions, as well as our desire to invest locally in Figeac and the region."