Aircraft architectures & technology integration for aircraft concepts ranging from regional to short-medium range applications

Closed

Programme Category

EU Competitive Programmes

Programme Name

EuroHPC JOINT UNDERTAKING

Programme Description

The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (hereinafter “EuroHPC JU”), will contribute to the ambition of value creation in the Union with the overall mission to develop, deploy, extend and maintain in the Union an integrated world class supercomputing and quantum computing infrastructure and to develop and support a highly competitive and innovative High Performance Computing (HPC) ecosystem, extreme scale, power-efficient and highly resilient HPC and data technologies.

Programme Details

Identifier Code

HORIZON-JU-CLEAN-AVIATION-2022-01-TRA-01

Call

Aircraft architectures & technology integration for aircraft concepts ranging from regional to short-medium range applications

Summary

Μission profiles that minimize greenhouse gas emissions at aircraft level should be considered. While hybrid/electric energy architectures are considered to pave the way towards climate-neutral regional aircraft (with a capacity of up to 100 seats), SR/SMR aircraft (with a capacity of up to 250 seats) are expected to rely on ultra-efficient aircraft designs and ultra-efficient thermal energy-based propulsion technologies using sustainable drop-in and non-drop-in fuels.

Detailed Call Description

Proposals are requested to cover the spectrum of payload/capacity and design range of regional, shorthaul and short/medium range aircraft that collectively represent at least 90% of the air transport system operations typically flown with these aircraft types. While not limitative and prescriptive, applicants are expected to focus on aircraft ranging from a ‘regional’ capacity of around 50 seats up to a maximum ‘single aisle’ capacity of 250 seats, and with design range (at full payload) from no less than 900 km for disruptive zero emissions regional concepts up to 3700 km for an ultra-advanced short/medium range aircraft.

A number of top level goals will be the basis for performance targets to be considered in the execution of the projects, and in the evaluation of proposals submitted and considered for funding. In particular:

  • For concepts based on use of drop-in SAF:
    • No less than 50%145 fuel burn reduction target at overall aircraft/concept level for projects focused on the regional aircraft segment, which shall be considered here as all concepts with a payload of up to 100 passengers;
    • No less than 30%146 fuel burn reduction target at overall aircraft/concept level for projects focused on the short and short/medium range aircraft segment, which shall be considered here as all concepts with a payload of more than 100 passengers.
  • For concepts based on the use of hydrogen as fuel or energy source:
    • No less than 15%147 reduction in aircraft energy demand taking into account all weight and drag penalties after integration of hydrogen storage, distribution, propulsion system, and aerodynamics at overall aircraft design level.

Call Total Budget

€90 million

Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan

70%

EU contribution of €30 million up to €60 million

Thematic Categories

  • Environment and Climate Change
  • Other Services
  • Research, Technological Development and Innovation

Eligibility for Participation

  • Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
  • Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Eligibility For Participation Notes

Given the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the involvement of Belarus, legal entities established in Russia, Belarus or in any occupied territory of Ukraine are not eligible to participate in any capacity.

Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis for justified reasons, such as for humanitarian purposes, civil society support or people-to-people contacts.

Αpplicants are encouraged to include key contributors from the domain of academic/scientific research and technology development, as well as, where appropriate, potential newcomers to the field of aeronautics (in particular SMEs, start-ups and/or knowledge centres) that can support innovative approaches to design optimisation such as multivariable and/or multi-disciplinary optimisation, and artificial intelligence based design and high-performance computing.

(Further details in the call document)

Call Opening Date

12/04/2022

Call Closing Date

23/06/2022

EU Contact Point

EuroHPC JU

info@eurohpc-ju.europa.eu

(Publish Date: 10/05/2022-for internal use only)