Thales is proud to be supporting the call to extend the Clean Sky research programme from 2014 to 2020. Thales, alongside 13 industry partners, has today signed a Letter of Intent on the "Clean Sky 2" initiative, as an extension of the European Commission’s "Clean Sky" Joint Technology Initiative, designed to meet the ambitious environmental and societal objectives set by the European Commission in ‘Flightpath 2050’ and the new ACARE ‘Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda’, thus strengthening collaborative research in Europe.
In the letter, the industry players undertake to invest €3.6bn jointly with the EU over a period of seven years on transportation research within the framework of Clean Sky 2. Clean Sky 2 would become incorporated in the European "Horizon 2020" programme, to run from 2014 to 2020. This also expresses the European industry’s commitment to align its strengths and to significantly increase investment in European R&T through Clean Sky 2.
This reflects the importance of strong and continued investment and co-operation to respond appropriately to the future challenges of air traffic. The current Clean Sky programme is maturing new technologies and systems that will significantly reduce the environmental impact of Air Transport. Thales, as one of the Clean Skyleaders, is part of this effort.
The new EC objectives for Air Transport are ever-increased environmental performance, higher societal benefits and sustained competitiveness of European Industry. Along with the Single Sky initiative, this calls for breakthrough technologies and an integrated approach. In this context, systems will be a key enabler for the performance of future operations. Thales will use its CLEAN SKY experience and Thales’s leading position in Ground, Avionics and Space segments to develop innovative technologies and demonstrators.
Commenting on the undertaking, Solly Side, VP Institutional and European Affairs said: "The new Clean Sky 2 programme is a unique opportunity to define the foundations of the future of Air Transport. Thales is looking forward to leveraging technologies and experience in collaborative research with all European stakeholders: industry, SMEs, Research Centres, and all other entities involved in this undertaking. Our global expertise in systems will be one of the enablers for the Clean Sky 2 vision of a greener, more competitive European Aerospace".