DIREKT – derived from ‘DIgitaler lebenszyklus (hybRid-)elEKTischer antriebssysteme’ – was launched in 2022 to establish a digital thread throughout the entire product lifecycle of hybrid-electric propulsion systems by enabling better communication, automation and optimisation of processes.

The project has secured 18 million euros of funding through the LUFO VI-2, a fund which hopes to enable the exploration of innovative artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to shorten sustainable aircraft development times. The project will establish a digital twin for product lifecycle optimisation across our portfolio of engines for Advanced Air Mobility, including regional commuter aircraft and urban air mobility engines and turbine technologies. By 2025, the team hopes to significantly reduce product lead times as well as further enable the wider goal of reducing CO2 emissions.

A digital twin provides a digital representation of product lifecycle processes that enables the simulation of real-world scenarios prior to product design, manufacturing, assembly or testing. Through the wealth of data a digital twin collects, we can gather information on each phase of the production process and make this available to each partner or team involved to streamline processes.

Digitalisation is a key part of our wider ambitions to significantly reduce CO2 emissions both in our products and their design, manufacturing and service processes. Through the use of a digital twin, we can better predict the energy required throughout each phase of manufacturing and assembly, enabling us to create greater efficiencies.

It also helps our teams detect design issues prior to prototype testing, meaning fewer iterations need to be built and in turn reducing the materials we use.

Alongside BTU, our Electrical team is working together with Fraunhofer Institutes, Siemens and PACE. These partnerships allow us to harness wider capabilities in airframe design and integration, production planning, robustness and reliability and other areas critical to delivering more sustainable technologies to market.