RTX units Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney will partner with Dutch aerospace firms in technology research and development for sustainable aviation under a memorandum of understanding between RTX and the Netherlands Aerospace Group.
The collaboration covers propulsion technology innovation, aircraft energy management, environmental assessments of sustainability solutions and other various areas. Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney already entered into a master research agreement with the Netherlands’ Delft University of Technology in September focused on collaborative work on sustainable aviation studies.
RTX’s Dutch R&D partnership will rely on the company’s more than century-long presence in the Netherlands and operations in 60 European sites, employing over 22,000 workers.
Juan de Bedout, RTX chief technology officer, said that combining the “world’s best and brightest minds” is needed to reduce aviation’s carbon footprint. “This MOU … enables us to further expand our relationships throughout the wider Dutch and European aerospace ecosystem as we work together to make the future of commercial flight more sustainable,” he added.
Collins, which operates in three Dutch locations, is one of the aerospace industry leaders behind the recent completion of a preliminary design review for an electric aircraft for the European Union’s Clean Aviation HECATE program.