Industry giants collaborate on hybrid engines as part of EU ‘clean aviation’ project

A group of aerospace technology companies have formed “a collaborative consortium to develop hybrid-electric and water-enhanced turbofan technology for future aircraft propulsion systems” under the Clean Aviation project, a public-private partnership between the European Commission, the aerospace industry, and research institutes. Members of the new consortium are MTU Aero Engines (MTU),  the co-ordinator, as well as Pratt & Whitney, Collins Aerospace (Collins), GKN Aerospace and Airbus. The aim, they said, is “to demonstrate the potential of these technologies to improve fuel efficiency and reduce aircraft CO2 emissions by up to 25% compared to today’s state-of-the-art propulsion systems for short- and