MTU Seeks Reset In Military Engine Approach Through AeroDesignWorks

MUNICH—Growing demand for high-end uncrewed aircraft is prompting MTU Aero Engines to explore at least a partial reset of its design philosophy in an effort to establish itself as a major propulsion provider for such systems.

The company’s decades-long heritage of building high-end, long-lasting engines with a premium placed on safety may not suit the market for collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) and similar systems, says Ottmar Pfänder, the German aircraft engine-maker’s head of programs.

“What you now do in the civil market is maximum performance and maximum safety. This is a different business,” he said. “We have to start with a different mindset.”

MTU, to help bring about that change and to establish itself more fully as a drone propulsion provider, this year acquired AeroDesignWorks. The company brings with it a heritage of rapid design as well as a cost focus well suited to the drone market, Pfänder said.

“We want to be leading in Europe in terms of drone propulsion,” he said, also reflecting Europe’s growing interest in homegrown supply options.

MTU has begun talks with potential customers about engine concepts. The range of demands is still wide, in part because military customers are still unclear about what they want in these systems.

There are myriad options and thrust categories, Pfänder noted. “The range is large. The technical demands are very different. The art is going to be to adapt the technological know-how to each demand level.”

Keeping costs under control will be important, he added. A drone engine would likely not require the high number of flight cycles of a crewed platform, in some cases just flying once for testing and then for an operational mission, changing design parameters. Supply chain approaches are also different, as are design iteration cycles—and the engines have to be able to be stored for long periods of time, but then work right away once the system is pulled out of their boxes.

“The goal was to find someone that is still early in the process, has this mindset and knows how to quickly and affordably get into this market and combine that with MTU’s capability to scale,” Pfänder said.

Even as it explores this foray into this market, MTU also has to deal with uncertainty around the future of the Franco-German-Spanish New Generation Fighter program that is part of the Future Combat Air System program. The program has been in limbo for about a year with aircraft-makers Dassault Aviation and Airbus at odds over the path forward.

“We need clarity,” Pfänder said, noting that the company has roughly 350 engineers on the project and their work will end in September absent a follow-on contract. MTU has a joint venture with Safran to power the program.

Pfänder reaffirmed that the engine-makers would like to continue to cooperate and could do so even if France and Germany pursue different fighters. In the commercial market, he noted, it is not unusual to have similar products at different thrust levels.

The extent to which there could be engine architecture commonality between different fighter engines is still unclear, however, Pfänder said, noting that the design may evolve over time.