Airbus Opens New Technology Development Center

Airbus announced on Tuesday that it has officially opened its new Wing Technology Development Centre (WTDC). According to the company, work at the facility will focus on building and testing demonstrators to support the development of wings for next-generation aircraft. The WTDC is located at Airbus’ site in Filton, England, alongside the company’s ZEROe Development Centre and Aerospace Integrated Research and Test Centre (AIRTeC).

“The new Wing Technology Development Centre will help us to ground our research in practicality,” said Airbus Filton site head Sue Partridge. “A key element of how we deliver technology for next generation aircraft wings is through Wing of Tomorrow (WoT), our largest research and technology programme led by the team in the UK.”

Airbus noted that it has been awarded £117 million ($149 million) by the Aerospace Technology Institute for research related to the Wing of Tomorrow program since 2014. The program’s three 17-meter (56-foot) wing demonstrators will be used to test structural capabilities of new designs and materials, installation technologies, new approaches to equipping wings with systems, industrial capability and automation technologies. The second of the three demonstrators was delivered to the WTDC last week.