We’re thrilled to hear that even in challenging times like nowadays, research and development of new technologies is still heavily supported. The reason for our excitement is Phase 2 of UKRI’s Future Flight Challenge, competition aiming to revolutionise the way people, goods and services fly and position the United Kingdom as a world leader in aviation products. Funded by £125 million from the UK government via Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and expecting £175 million from industry in Phase 1, this event is one of the most funded we’ve seen recently.

The United Kingdom has been at the forefront of aviation for more than 100 years and is still an obvious leader in this sector. As MGM COMPRO, we can only confirm this fact – we had the honor to be active in thriving British market for many years. Recently, we’ve visited several expos and other interesting events likeAdvanced Engineering orVertical Flight Expo, and those have been crucial opportunities to improve our technological point of view and to orientate in UK’s environment. We’re confident to say that we’ve established in the thriving British market and are ready to cooperate on major technological challenges just like Future Flight Challenge.

Vertical Aerospace’s Seraph eVTOL on public display in London earlier this year. Public acceptance is one of the themes that UKRI is interested in for its Future Flight Challenge. Vertical Aerospace Photo

Future Flight Challenge rules

Kicking off its Phase 1 in September 2019, Future Flight Challenge invited a wide range of participants to come forward with ideas. In November, Future Flight Challenge director Gary Cutts told eVTOL.com that UKRI was seeing a strong early response to the initiative, which is backed by £125 million from the UK government. On May 11, 2020, the second phase opened, promising another £30 million for projects with integrated aviation systems and vehicle technologies that enable new classes of electric or autonomous aircraft.

The competition has two branches: a “fast track” strand to encourage smaller businesses and not-aviation sector organizations to apply, and a “large consortia” strand for specialised companies aiming to “undertake significant and ambitious projects that strive to integrate technologies and systems.” For both strands, projects can last between six and 18 months, with all projects required to end by March 30, 2022. Lead organizations must be UK-registered businesses and carry out their project work in the UK.

UKRI is seeking both “development” projects leading to specific use case demonstrations, and “enabling” projects, which will expand national capabilities in areas such as testing facilities, data infrastructure, and aviation system simulations. According to its statement of scope, the agency aims to fund “a portfolio of projects, across a variety of technologies, markets, technological maturities, and research categories.”