Spotlight: BAE Systems

[00:00:01]As the first electric veto aircraft flies at Farnborough International Air Show, there's been a focus on more sustainable future for aviation and the integrated software defined ecosystems that are needed to bring that into reality.

[00:00:20]Future ready architectures are the cornerstone of BAE Systems approach to aircraft electrification. The company believes that electrical architectures should be designed not just for today's batteries, but for the pace of innovation that will occur over the life of the platforms. So, Scott, welcome.

[00:00:37]>> Thank you.

[00:00:38]>> Tell us are these future ready architectures the key to unlocking the potential of electrification in aircraft?

[00:00:46]>> I believe they are. I think that as we talked about there's a lot of cynicism today about electrification, especially as it comes to aircraft.

[00:00:54]But if you look back on our history almost 30 years ago, we were introducing electrification on a transit buses and there's a lot of cynicism back then and and doubters. And I would say that what we learned was you can't focus on any one particular technology. You have to look at taking imperfect technologies, put them together in an architecture and into a system that can demonstrate the mission capabilities.

[00:01:17]And from there, we now have more than 20,000 vehicles transit in the world. I rode on three different electrical cars coming here today. And so I think we have to have the confidence and and look at the the trajectory of innovation as opposed to where we are today as we put these systems together.

[00:01:37]>> As the battery technology improves, how can we upgrade without having to completely redesign and recertify the entire aircraft?

[00:01:45]>> Yeah, I would love to be able to say that you don't have to redesign and recertify, but the reality is the safety of an aircraft is very different from the safety of a bus. And so certification will absolutely need to be a part of it. What we can do, though, is really look at how do we system engineer, how do we architect the system today so that it is future proof where we can take the innovations that come, embed them in when the time comes. And that really starts with solid system engineering, with designing modular systems, with standard interfaces, with certification in mind from day one.

[00:02:24]And with doing that, we can we can make that transition as the technology matures more simply.

[00:02:31]>> Thank you. So, where are we seeing these systems and solutions in operation currently? And what are the wider applications for them?

[00:02:39]>> Yeah, I think I think an application today you're seeing more on the drone, but for example, yesterday our battery system flew on the NASA GE EPFD aircraft. So, exciting times seeing our our batteries actually flying on a system. We're working with EVTOL companies, we're working with air transport companies on how do we take these technologies and put them into applications. Some of those will be a year out, some of those will be over the next decade before they're in service, but it's an exciting time and we're really pleased to be a part of it at the at the outset of this journey of electrification.

[00:03:17]>> Thank you very much. Future-ready architecture can not only help to support aircraft electrification, but also ensure it's able to adapt and include the innovation of the future.