Business Minister Anna Soubry recently visited the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry, where she opened two new facilities — the Aerospace Research Centre and the National Centre for Net Shape and Additive Manufacturing.

The former will allow companies to develop new materials such as lightweight carbon fibre for use in planes, jet engines and civil helicopters, while the latter will develop new products for aero-engines and aircraft landing gear, as well as automotive and medical devices.

Following the opening, Ms Soubry announced four Government- and industry-funded projects “to keep the UK a world leader in aerospace”.

These projects comprise: £7.2 million for Airbus to research ways to remove wing-surface imperfections that cause drag; £5 million for five partners (led by Meggitt) to research how pioneering technologies such as the Internet of Things can be applied to aircraft production; £6.4 million for Spirit Aero Systems, the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and Aeromet to research automated assembly to improve the cost-competitiveness of the UK supply chain; and £4.4 million to support UTC Aerospace Systems (working with the AMRC) to set up production lines to manufacture high-volume, low-cost advanced composite products.

The minister also announced the launch of “a new £10 million competition to find game-changing aerospace technologies, aimed at small firms”. This is now open for bids; it is being run by Innovate UK.

During the opening ceremony for the new facilities, Ms Soubry said: “Government and industry are working together to keep Britain at the forefront of the global aerospace market. We are currently second only to the USA, but there is more to do. It is important that we continue to invest in R&D and develop ground-breaking technologies.

“Demand for new aircraft is at record levels. Around 45,000 new aircraft and 40,000 helicopters — worth over $5 trillion — are needed between now and 2032.

“This will provide billions of pounds of work to the UK economy, given our leading capability in wings, engines, helicopters, advanced systems and services. Getting this right will deliver economic benefit through our large, mid-size and small companies across the breadth of the country.”