BELFAST, Ireland, April 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Spirit
AeroSystems (NYSE: SPR) Belfast announced today it will lead Team
MOSQUITO, comprising Spirit Belfast, Northrop Grumman and Intrepid
Minds, on further development of the Royal Air Force's ("RAF")
Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft (LANCA) concept to
full demonstration capability. Initially supporting more than 100
STEM jobs at Spirit Belfast's facility, the project has the
potential to sustain further expertise in the wider UK supply
chain.
Spirit AeroSystems Belfast Advances Ground-breaking Project for UK
Ministry of Defence
Exploiting agile design principles, sophisticated digital
applications, and advanced manufacturing skills, the team will
generate knowledge and evidence for a potential follow-on
project. Findings could lead to this revolutionary capability
being deployed by the RAF to enhance protection, survivability and
information advantage to aircrews.
Drawing on its expertise in advanced composite manufacturing
solutions, Spirit Belfast will adapt its award-winning resin
transfer infusion technology to produce a lightweight vehicle
capable of uncrewed, high-speed flight. Benefits of using extensive
composite components, compared to all-aluminium aerostructures,
include both reduced maintenance and fuel consumption for aircraft
operations.
"Spirit Belfast is delighted to lead the delivery of a national
programme enabling the development of cutting-edge technologies
while maintaining critical skills in the UK," said Scott McLarty, Senior Vice-President of Spirit
AeroSystems, Airbus Programs. "Supporting the MOD's strategic
objectives on pace, affordability and operational capacity, Team
MOSQUITO will help drive collaborative innovation and competitive
advantage. We are excited to develop this relationship with a view
to contributing to a more sustainable industrial base for UK
defence."
In addition to the provision of systems engineering support,
Northrop Grumman will supply its international DA/RC (Distributed
Autonomy / Responsive Control) technologies, gateway offerings and
advanced mesh networking capabilities to the aircraft. These enable
seamless human-machine collaboration and cooperative mission
management across distributed manned and unmanned assets.
"Our team will help deliver the required development cost and
time savings by providing our expertise in Agile development and
DevSecOps to enable a model-based, digital design approach," said
Katharine Sealy, Director of
National Security Solutions, Northrop Grumman UK. "By applying
modern software development practices to a digital engineering
environment, we aim to dramatically reduce the time required to
build a flying demonstrator while allowing for seamless integration
of additional future capabilities."
Intrepid Minds will cover the complete avionics system, power,
lighting and integration with the ground control station. As part
of this project, the company brings its own Adrestia system
currently being deployed across the air, surface and subsurface
domains. Having already integrated into many civil and defence
systems, Intrepid Minds is using that speed of development to
generate a cohesive structure across all partners and
suppliers.
"As specialists in the unmanned and autonomous field, Intrepid
Minds has a proven record in developing the art of the possible",
said Intrepid Minds Managing Director, Adam
Smith. "Our ability to pull in the best technologies from
suppliers and integrate them centrally with our Adrestia system and
Spectre hardware can rapidly enhance a system of systems approach.
We are delighted to be involved in developing potential UK
sovereign capability in ways that could work across the
services."
On the web: www.spiritaero.com
On Twitter: @SpiritAero
About Spirit AeroSystems Inc.
Spirit
AeroSystems is one of the world's largest manufacturers of
aerostructures for commercial airplanes, defence platforms, and
business/regional jets. With expertise in aluminium and advanced
composite manufacturing solutions, the company's core products
include fuselages, integrated wings and wing components, pylons,
and nacelles. Also, Spirit serves the aftermarket for commercial
and business/regional jets. Headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, Spirit has facilities in the
U.S., U.K., France, Malaysia and Morocco. More information is available
at www.spiritaero.com.
About Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman
solves the toughest problems in space, aeronautics, defence and
cyberspace to meet the ever-evolving needs of our customers
worldwide. Our 97,000 employees define possible every day using
science, technology and engineering to create and deliver advanced
systems, products and services.
About Intrepid Minds
Intrepid Minds products
are found in both defence and civilian operations. With a backbone
in innovation and R&D, our uncrewed products cover the air,
ground, sea-surface and sub-surface domains in some of the world's
most hostile environments. Constantly developing in house and
integrating with the best of external technologies allows many of
our products to have unique characteristics not found
elsewhere.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that
may involve many risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking
statements generally can be identified by the use of
forward-looking terminology such as "aim," "anticipate," "believe,"
"could," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "goal," "forecast,"
"intend," "may," "might," "objective," "outlook," "plan,"
"predict," "project," "should," "target," "will," "would," and
other similar words, or phrases, or the negative thereof, unless
the context requires otherwise. These statements reflect
management's current views with respect to future events and are
subject to risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown. Our
actual results may vary materially from those anticipated in
forward-looking statements. We caution investors not to place undue
reliance on any forward-looking statements. Important factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those
reflected in such forward-looking statements and that should be
considered in evaluating our outlook include, without
limitation, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our
business and operations; the timing and conditions surrounding the
full worldwide return to service (including receiving the remaining
regulatory approvals) of the B737 MAX, future demand for the
aircraft, and any residual impacts of the B737 MAX grounding on
production rates for the aircraft; our reliance on Boeing for a
significant portion of our revenues; our ability to execute our
growth strategy, including our ability to complete and integrate
acquisitions; our ability to accurately estimate and manage
performance, cost, and revenue under our contracts; demand for our
products and services and the effect of economic or geopolitical
conditions in the industries and markets in which we operate in the
U.S. and globally; our ability to manage our liquidity, borrow
additional funds or refinance debt; and other factors disclosed in
our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These
factors are not exhaustive and it is not possible for us to predict
all factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those reflected in our forward-looking statements. These
factors speak only as of the date hereof, and new factors may
emerge or changes to the foregoing factors may occur that could
impact our business. Except to the extent required by law, we
undertake no obligation to, and expressly disclaim any obligation
to, publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events, or
otherwise.
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SOURCE Spirit AeroSystems