Brussels, 13/11/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE), sponsored by the European Commission, presented the findings of its first year of work on 12 November in a comprehensive Strategic Research Agenda (SRA). This is the first time in the history of the EU that government representatives, industry and research have jointly developed and endorsed a R&D plan for the aeronautics sector. The report tackles the challenges facing aviation today. The timetable aims to enhance research effort to make air travel safer, cleaner, quieter and more reliable. The agenda calls for overall research investment amounting to more than EUR 100 billion over 20 years. It also recommends joint research projects with technology integration platforms for testing and adopting new technologies, large-scale research test-beds and technological incubators. The ACARE timetable is a response to the STAR 21 report dated July 2002, a strategic aerospace review for the 21st Century which explains how to create a coherent market and policy framework for a competitive European aerospace industry.
Quality and efficiency. The agenda's security programme aims to reduce the accident rate by 80% by improving control technology and strengthening the efficiency of ground operations. Research should address the development of permanent automatic approach and landing capability in all weather conditions, self aircraft-separation capability, 100% recovery from human error, and automatic protection against catastrophic misjudgements. The agenda also intends to help the air transport system triple the 2000 figure for passengers, freight and air traffic by 2020. Another goal is to reduce the time spent by passengers in airports to less than 15 minutes for short-haul flights and to less than 30 minutes for long haul travel. In addition, 99% of flights should depart within 15 minutes of their advertised scheduled departure time in all weather conditions.
Environment and safety. Against a backdrop of global warming, the agenda targets a 50% reduction in noise, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions from aircraft as well as an 80% reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions. It attempts to reduce CO2 emissions by undertaking research in aerodynamics, weight reduction and by improving the configuration of present technology. As far as safety is concerned, the agenda recommends increasing the scale of research on navigation failures and on air traffic control systems through hostile action. Other aspects focus on the possibility of the aircraft being hi-jacked on the ground or in flight. The agenda aims to ensure that hijacking has a zero success rate. In order to achieve this, the authors of the agenda make a case for overall research on each of the three components of air travel: aircraft, airport and navigation. A future area of research consists, for example, in taking over entire control of an aircraft from the ground and automatically, and safely, returning it to the ground.
Competitiveness. The conclusions of the agenda stress the importance of several elements: improved infrastructure research, a competitive supply chain, a seamless certification and qualification process for the rapid introduction of new technologies, a strong education system, and trans-European synergies.
These mechanisms should create an attractive environment for investors and thus help to make Europe just as competitive as other economic regions or countries. The agenda places emphasis on the need to see European aeronautics in a global context. The United States spends twice as much as the EU in non-military aeronautics research and fourteen times as much in military research. The agenda encourages a mixture of cooperation and competition with the United States, on the basis of excellence and free trade.
The agenda is not a rigid, long-term plan. It will be assessed every two or three years when its new editions are published, allowing new information to be added. For the future, it is intended that selected aspects of the agenda should be analysed in greater depth, guiding stakeholders in their support for and investment in their chosen research programmes.
Specific studies on selected aspects of the agenda will also be carried out with a view to providing advice to decision-makers.