The aerospace and defence company
RTX has achieved ‘a critical milestone’ in its hybrid-electric flight demonstrator programme, successfully completing a rated power test of the demonstrator’s 1MW electric motor. Developed by
Collins Aerospace, the motor will be combined with ‘a highly efficient thermal engine’ developed by Pratt & Whitney as part of a hybrid-electric propulsion system that aims to demonstrate a 30% improvement in fuel efficiency and CO
2 emissions compared to today’s most advanced regional turboprops (Collins and Pratt & Whitney are both business units of RTX).
Henry Brooks, Collins Aerospace’s president (power and controls), said: “With its industry-leading power density and efficiency, our 1MW motor will help to significantly reduce aircraft carbon emissions by supporting hybrid-electric propulsion architectures on the next generation of commercial platforms. As the motor’s development continues apace, each milestone brings us one step closer to hybrid-electric flight and our industry’s shared commitment to ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2050.”
Compared to Collins’ most advanced electric motor generators flying today, the 1MW motor will deliver four-times the power and twice the voltage, with half the heat loss and half the weight. The company is developing the motor at its Solihull facility in the UK and testing it at the University of Nottingham’s Institute for Aerospace Technology.
Following on from the first low-speed engine run at a Pratt & Whitney Canada facility in Longueuil, Quebec, in December 2022, testing of the combined hybrid-electric propulsion system will continue through 2023. The propulsion system and batteries will be integrated on a Dash 8-100 experimental aircraft, with flight testing targeted to begin in 2024.
In addition to the hybrid-electric flight demonstrator, the 1MW motor will also be part of the Pratt & Whitney GTF hybrid-electric powertrain planned for the SWITCH project under the EU’s Clean Aviation initiative. Future testing will be conducted at ‘The Grid’, a $50 million electric power systems laboratory at Collins’ Rockford, Illinois, facility, which is scheduled to open later this year.