Babcock International Group has signed a contract with Uplift360 to explore how parts of a Typhoon aircraft can be broken down and repurposed, marking a step toward embedding greater sustainability in the defence sector.
The collaboration will examine how composite materials from a Typhoon can be recycled and reused, with the potential to apply the process across other platforms. Both companies describe the initiative as part of a push to reduce waste, strengthen supply chains and support the long-term resilience of UK defence.
Chloe Barker, Managing Director for Babcock’s UK Aviation business, said: “By combining our operational experience with Uplift360’s specialist expertise, we’re working together to support our customers’ sustainability ambitions. This partnership is focused on delivering practical solutions that contribute to more efficient use of resources and strengthen the long-term resilience of UK defence supply chains.”
She added: “This collaboration is a great example of how we can work side by side with small and medium enterprises to deliver meaningful change.”
Sam Staincliffe, Co-founder and CEO of Uplift360, said: “We are delighted to have signed this partnering agreement with Babcock, demonstrating the leading role that Uplift360 can play in the recycling of advanced materials from the defence industry. As we create more advanced materials, the waste challenge increases. Uplift360 offers a truly circular option to reuse them sustainably.”
Babcock, a FTSE 100 defence group, operates across the UK, Canada, Australasia, France and South Africa. Uplift360, founded in 2021 with support from the UK’s Defence and Security Accelerator, develops chemical recycling technologies for high-performance materials such as carbon fibre and aramid, with operations now extended to Luxembourg.
Any chance we could recycle some Spanish Tranche 2s into the RAF?
Reusingis the very best form of recycling… our tranche 1s to someone else and spains tranche 2s to the RAF.
Recycle the Hawk 200s from Indonesia and Malaysia. Fit them with APWKS with IR seekers and give them to Ukraine as drone killers?
That’s actually probably not a bad idea to be honest.
IIR there was a period when Hawks supplemented Tornado F3 in the UK air defence role. I think even the T2 can carry ASRAAM and a gun pod. Refurbished and with a cheap radar they might be a value for money drone interceptor: with ASRAAM they might even be able to shoot down cruise missiles.
Who really cares .chances are we will need maintenance units soon and we have no reserves.. Us on here are talking more ,more, more and up top they talk about being green… We need to start looking back to 1940 and not playing games.
I totally agree about the green crap but sustainability is also crap. In the 1950s a Nobel prize winning physicist called Richard Feynman tried to introduce nanotechnology to the world but the world still has it’s fingers stuffed into its ears. After 70 years we still make things the old way.
Dung
Well we still have plenty of spitfires at duxford ,jokes apart it’s a shame we sold the harriers to the yanks and got rid of tornado and hercules.i know people will not agree but in dire times everything counts ,say nothing of the fact that other countries seem to keep ships sailing much longer than us and spend less than us .