British aircraft manufacturer Aeralis has signed a cooperation agreement with the GMB union to support what it describes as thousands of high-quality aerospace jobs in Central Ayrshire as part of its modular light jet programme, according to the company.
The deal, signed at Prestwick by Aeralis chairman Robin Southwell and GMB general secretary Gary Smith, sets out a framework for joint working on skills, employment and workforce support around a planned industrial hub at Glasgow Prestwick Airport.
Aeralis says its programme could create more than 4,000 highly skilled jobs across the UK, with Central Ayrshire targeted as a major centre because it already hosts around half of Scotland’s aerospace workforce, according to the company.
Southwell framed the choice in explicitly sovereign terms, arguing that ministers must decide whether to back a domestic or imported solution for future light jets and training platforms. “The choice faced by the Government is clear; select a British designed and built aircraft offering long-term careers, skills development, and opportunities for future generations here in the UK, or to use public funds to import from abroad,” he said in the press release.
He added that the Aeralis–GMB agreement would, in the company’s view, transform the regional economy if its aircraft is selected. “Overnight we will create together one of the top three industrial enterprises in the region, delivering apprenticeships, well paid careers and new opportunities right here at home,” Southwell stated, according to the company.
The union presented the tie-up as a chance to rebuild Scotland’s full-aircraft manufacturing base. “Selecting AERALIS would represent a major moment for Scotland’s industrial future, bringing back complete aircraft production to Scotland for the first time in 25 years,” Smith said. He added that GMB is committed to ensuring “workers in Central Ayrshire and beyond are at the heart of this exciting new chapter for UK aerospace.”
Aeralis argues that its modular light jet design could replace existing Red Arrows aircraft, meet UK and overseas military jet training requirements and tap into a wider export market, according to the company. The firm claims the programme could become Scotland’s largest aerospace export initiative, with potential annual exports of up to £600 million and a position among the country’s top three industrial exporters, according to the company. It also says the aircraft would be civil certified, allowing wider use across Europe and offering a long term platform option for European defence customers.
The new GMB agreement follows a strategic arrangement signed in September with Glasgow Prestwick Airport, which Aeralis says will anchor its proposed production and support footprint in Scotland. The company presents the union partnership as further evidence of its intention to build what it calls a sustainable sovereign aerospace capability in the UK, although any large scale job creation ultimately depends on government procurement decisions in the coming years.
Wow what kind of aerospace company that doesn’t make planes signs a deal with a labour Union to train workers for a plant that doesn’t exists.
This is another gravy train like H&W with a few pictures and PowerPoints looking for a nice fat government contract.
The last thing the RAF needs is to be involved in is a development project for a jet trainer built by a company that has never built a plane but thinks it can make one a transformer by being “modular”
Deals like this are designed to bate politicans into making stupid moves.
Well, Mr Patriotic Person, what’s your suggestion?
Buy the M-346 or T7 Redhawk and license build it in the UK.
Totally disagree – short-sighted and no ambition in that approach.
As opposed to what, backing a company that has been producing nothing more than paper projects for the better part of a decade at this point?
Well unless you invest you’ll never know. There’s always fallback options if your hoped for calamity comes to fruition. Aircraft programmes since the Wright bros have all been fraught with risk. There’s no innovation without it.
I’d feel more confident about them if they had a prototype in the air 5 years ago. But they don’t. I would have liked BAE Systems to have started developing the Hawk replacement 10 years ago. But they haven’t. So our option’s are limited.
I have heard American pilots talk about how the RedHawk has its own problems on the Boeing side. It was on a YouTube clip, so take that as you will.
Granted, it is an aircraft that is in testing.
I think the Italian M-346 is a strong contender. A Tempest partner nation. And we could probably final assembly them in the UK. See what’s in the equipment plan.
Jim, AERALIS® continues to blaze a trail in defence aviation – transforming the sector using open-architecture, digital aircraft design as part of building a pioneering, modular light jet system able to commoditise the economics of air force fleets. You need to get with the program 😂
Hard to disagree with this
You not an Areolae fan then Jim ?
‘Wow what kind of aerospace company that doesn’t make planes signs a deal with a labour Union to train workers for a plant that doesn’t exists’. Sounds perfect for a Govt with an imaginary increase in defence spending to me. They will surely give it the go ahead with an imaginary if imaginative title I’m sure. The only solidity will be a very well stocked Committee I’m sure to keep the well heeled home fires burning while producing numerous imaginary reports on imaginary progress.
I’m not over confident we need enough of these; better to partner with Italy. We messed up with not getting on with follow up to Hawk. Tragic.
I personally would love to see this as the subsonic trainer/ display aircraft. I feel with this as subsonic trainer and FA-50 in an armed configuration with domestic loadout as light combat but mainly supersonic trainer we would have an ideal pilot pipeline and could increase combat mass if required.
So another Hawk then ?
Well an Eagle of the Golden variety.
Gosh
Goshawk.
I’ve just realised that now the Adour is widely regarded as f***ed, there’s no UK built or major UK-content engine that we could put in this even if it did get going…
It appears that they are partnered with Honeywell.
I have serious reservations over how a modular aircraft such as they are proposing will work in real life. Especially when it comes to certifying it. For example, if the jet has been configured as a subsonic basic trainer, with the training main wings and the non-afterburning engine. Is then required to be converted as an advanced trainer with the transonic wings and the after burning engine, so it can transition through the sound barrier. There are so many things that need to be done to make sure the aircraft is safe to fly, in this new configuration!
For starters, you have now basically created a new aircraft, that handles completely differently to the originally configuration. Therefore the flight control laws will be totally different. Will they keep the original flight control computer, that has this additional configuration pre-loaded? If so, it will need a hard wire switch away from the cockpit, to make sure the configuration cannot be swapped back from inside the cockpit. As people (pilots) do love to play with switches! Or will it require a flight computer change? What happens if some muppet fits the wrong flight computer for the aircraft’s configuration? However you play with it, the aircraft will require a flight test, to make sure the new configuration is safe to fly, i.e. every time the aircraft’s configuration is changed it will require a flight test, which will likely be after its done ground power checks for the new engine, as well as flight control checks.
I’m pretty certain that Aeralis will have said, look we have a common core platform that can easily have its configuration swapped to meet the tasking. But have glossed over the time and effort it will take to actually swap over components, do safety checks, then include a flight test.
Personally, I don’t see any advancement in capabilities over the latest Hawk.
Calling Aeralis a manufacturer is extremely generous considering all we’ve seen is PowerPoints.
Sadly this outfit is nothing but blether blether blether and has been for years. If it doesn’t take flight soon it will just be another added to long list of wannabes. I genuinely hope they are sincere and get off the ground and take the world by storm but months come and months go and all we get is more flash PR and not even an Airfix kit to show for it. Move yourselves!!!!!!!!!!!
They can talk until they’re blue in the face but until they have an air worthy prototype – which in itself would display some evidence of serious financial backing – then sadly it’s just wishful thinking