Nichols Martin
Two Spirit AeroSystems Holdings subsidiaries will work with Albany Engineered Composites to jointly support hypersonic technology projects as part of a technical collaboration agreement between the parties.
Spirit AeroSystems and Fiber Materials, along with the Albany International Corp. subsidiary, will collaboratively build a suite of thermal protection system offerings designed to accelerate hypersonic programs, Spirit said Tuesday.
The suite will combine Spirit’s ultra-high temperature composites with Albany’s 3D-weaving technology to produce thermal protection systems for hypersonic flight.
“The biggest challenge facing the Department of Defense and primes in hypersonic programs is the need for scalable and affordable thermal protection systems that can be tailored to each mission and optimized for performance,” said Mark Miklos, vice president for hypersonic solutions at Spirit.
Greg Harwell, president of Albany Engineered Composites, said he expects the partnership to produce new hypersonic design methods through the combination of both companies’ technologies and manufacturing processes.
The collaboration is also expected to boost production output and reduce waste products.
