Rolls-Royce has secured €64 million in EU funding to lead a collaborative research project that will support development and planned ground testing of the UltraFan 30 engine.
The funding, awarded by the European Union’s Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking, will support the Ultra Novel and Innovative Fully Integrated Engine Demonstrations (UNIFIED) project. The program will focus on maturing next-generation propulsion technologies for future narrowbody applications, with ground testing of the UltraFan 30 demonstrator planned for 2028.
Led by Rolls-Royce, the UNIFIED consortium includes industrial and research partners from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the UK. The partnership aims to strengthen industrial capability, enhance supply chain resilience and build the technology readiness required for future narrowbody applications.
Alan Newby, Rolls-Royce director of research and technology, said, “UNIFIED is an important step in advancing the UltraFan technologies that could underpin a future narrowbody application. The narrowbody segment is central to global aviation growth and delivering step-change improvements in efficiency in this market is key to long-term sustainability.
“Through Clean Aviation, we are accelerating technology readiness in collaboration with leading industrial, academia and research partners – strengthening the foundations required for future narrowbody opportunities.”
María Calvo Blanco, Clean Aviation head of unit project management, added, “We value our long-standing partnership with Rolls-Royce, which builds on previous research programmes and a focus within Clean Aviation on scalable UltraFan architecture, starting with HEAVEN and followed by UNIFIED.
“The contribution of UNIFIED to the development of ultra-high bypass ratio technology will be a decisive step towards the goal of a 30% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (compared to 2020 state-of-the-art technology) for short-medium range aircraft entering into service in 2035. In this way, project partners help advance new propulsion technologies that can play a key role in securing a sustainable and competitive aviation sector.”
Partners include the aerospace companies Airbus, ITP Aero, Lufthansa Technik and Aerospace Transmissions Technologies, academics from TU Darmstadt, Imperial College London and the research agencies DLR, NLR, ONERA and INSA Lyon. UK participation is facilitated through the country’s association with the EU’s Horizon Europe research program.
The EU’s Clean Aviation call 3 is investing around €945 million to accelerate the development of sustainable aviation technologies. Consortium members recently attended a formal kick-off meeting in the UK to outline program plans and objectives.
