High-Voltage Wiring Harness to Support Electric Aircraft Project
GKN Aerospace recently completed the first high-voltage electrical wiring interconnection system for the European Union’s Clean Aviation SWITCH project. Photo courtesy Pratt & Whitney
BIRMINGHAM, England—GKN Aerospace recently completed the first high-voltage electrical wiring interconnection system (EWIS) for the European Union’s Clean Aviation SWITCH (Sustainable Water-Injecting Turbofan Comprising Hybrid-Electrics) project. The R&D initiative is developing new sustainable propulsion technology for short- and medium-range commercial aircraft.
The wiring harnesses were designed, assembled and tested at GKN Aerospace’s facility in Papendrecht, Holland, and delivered to Collins Aerospace’s Electronic Controls and Motor Systems Center of Excellence in Solihull, England. Additional units will be shipped to Collins’ advanced electric power systems lab in Rockford, IL.
“The delivery of GKN’s high-voltage electric wiring system is a critical next step toward demonstrating the effectiveness of hybrid-electric propulsion technology for future aircraft platforms,” says Kristin Smith, vice president of electric power systems at Collins Aerospace. “As part of the SWITCH project, [our] power train system will begin testing later this year…within a full-scale Pratt & Whitney GTF demonstrator engine.”
“Hybrid electric aircraft are central to the industry’s ambition to achieve more sustainable aviation,” adds John Pritchard, president of civil airframe at GKN Aerospace. “However, as power levels scale from hundreds of kilowatts to multiple megawatts, new high-voltage distribution systems are essential.”
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