BAE and Williams team up on future combat air technologies

20th July 2020 - 17:19 GMT | by The Shephard News Team in London

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BAE Systems and Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) have announced a joint partnership aimed at exploring how battery management and cooling technologies from the motorsport industry could be used to improve future combat aircraft performance gains.

The move is supported by an Oxfordshire-based specialist team from WAE collaborating with BAE Systems engineers in Lancashire, looking at ways in which future aircraft could fly faster and more efficiently than existing fighter jets.

The project is part of a wider research effort to develop future combat air system technologies, under the UK's Tempest programme.

Identifying techniques to enable high-power generation at low weight will play a key role in the partnership as it looks to unlock new ways of supporting long range endurance and a 'power when you need it' type of combat air capability.

Julia Sutcliffe, CTO of BAE Systems’ Air sector, said: 'Working in partnership with companies like WAE is vital to drive rapid innovation at the pace the Tempest programme demands. Changing how we engage with wider industry and leveraging the best technologies and processes from across the global supply chain is essential in order to deliver value to the UK, our international partners and our allies.'

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