Aeralis, the British company proposing the development of a modular jet trainer, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with aviation training and technical services provider Inzpire to jointly develop an aircraft service capability and technical offering in the context of the fast-jet training and support market, the two companies announced on 17 July 2023.
As part of the MoU, Inzpire and Aeralis will “collaborate to develop a common mission system architecture that supports a novel and unique service offering that will deliver an advanced operational training concept to meet the requirements of future aviation customers”, Aeralis stated in a press release. The company added that the offering “will provide seamless ‘on-demand’ operational air support as part of the future of air force fleets using a flexible Aeralis system, bringing significantly lower acquisition and operating costs”.
The MoU spans a broad range of services to be offered by Inzpire, including training and engineering subject matter experts to support the synthetic solution, understanding of the design and utility of the cockpit, and knowledge of fast-jet operations. The two companies will also conduct assessments of collaboration opportunities with overseas partners, analysis of the technical and performance elements of the aircraft, and evaluation of the service offering’s programme requirements.
The Aeralis aircraft concept takes a common core fuselage section and then configures around it a number of modular aircraft variants. For example, there are single- and dual-seat cockpit modules, basic or advanced subsonic wings, and single, twin or large nacelle variations to configure the Aeralis jet from basic flying all the way to high-altitude, high-speed performance. The range of variants includes basic trainer, advanced jet trainer, operational trainer and light combat aircraft as well as three uncrewed variants: tanker, loyal wingman and intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance platform.
Last year Aeralis signed partnerships with several companies in building towards the ultimate delivery of an Aeralis AJT, including Thales UK, Atkins, Siemens, Martin-Baker and Hamble Aerostructures, while this year the company signed a collaborative MoU with AirTanker.
The company is currently in Phase Two of a three-year contract with the Royal Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office and most recently was awarded a GBP 9 M (EUR 10.38 M) digital engineering contract from the UK Ministry of Defence to access Aeralis’ innovative digital engineering approach.
However, as of yet Aeralis has not secured a client to move its modular aircraft concept from the drawing board into the orderbook.
The advanced jet trainer market, meanwhile, is currently dominated by the Leonardo M-346 and KAI T-50 (in the West, at least), while the Turkish Aerospace Hürjet is also set to enter the fray.
Peter Felstead
