20 June 2025
Funding will ‘turbocharge growth in our advanced manufacturing and defence sectors’ according to Minister for Industry, Sarah Jones.
Three High Value Manufacturing Catapult centres are part of a £250m investment into cutting-edge aerospace tech projects to drive greener air travel.
Industry Minister Sarah Jones made the announcement at the Paris Air Show. The combined funding from government and industry will drive forward the development of cutting-edge technologies that will help to secure the future of the UK’s aerospace sector.
One of the project’s is NCC’s £15.8m High Rate Manufacture Capital Acquisition Project (HRMCap) awarded by the Department for Business and Trade, Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), and Innovate UK. The investment will be used to enhance NCC’s beyond state-of-the-art, open access technologies with a suite of 12 customer-ready capabilities to de-risk and accelerate innovation in high-rate large composite structure manufacturing.
Meanwhile, the University of Sheffield AMRC and Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) are part of a new groundbreaking £17m programme to fast-track the development of a new zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell system that could be powering commercial aircraft within the decade.
Project HEIGHTS is a three-year programme that aims to develop Intelligent Energy’s current 300kW modular aviation fuel cell platform, IE-FLIGHT™ 300, for next-generation aircraft.
Sarah Jones MP, Minister for Industry, said:
This government is backing aerospace. This investment will keep it at the forefront of innovation, not only delivering economic growth but boosting the charge to net zero 2030, two key pillars of our Plan for Change. This is the latest win for British aerospace in the run-up to the launch of our industrial strategy, which will turbocharge growth in our advanced manufacturing and defence sectors to take them to new heights, bringing new high-skilled jobs to every corner of the UK.
Katherine Bennett CBE, CEO of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, said:
This is a powerful vote of confidence in UK innovation, enabling our industry partners to scale-up, create high-value jobs and establish the UK as the hub for net zero aerospace manufacturing. The investment will cement the High Value Manufacturing Catapult’s position as a frontrunner in composite wing technology.