Airbus Helicopters To Flight Test Hybrid-Electric Propulsion System

DONAUWORTH, Germany–Airbus Helicopters is planning to begin flight tests of a hybrid-electric propulsion system on its PioneerLab H145 helicopter demonstrator in 2027.

The project will replace the aircraft’s existing pair of 667-shp Safran Arriel 2E turboshafts with a single 1,000 shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210S and two Collins-developed 250-kW electric motors powered by lithium ion batteries. It is targeting a 30% reduction in fuel burn when combined with aerodynamic modifications. It will also help the company better understand how to best use hybrid electric technologies to improve efficiency over the flight envelope.

Engineers are already designing the system and hope to reach a preliminary design review by midyear before the aircraft goes into layup in 2026 for the modifications to get underway. Installation is expected to take around 12 months.

“This is really something new for us in terms of the integration effort,” Johannes Plaum, head of Research and Technology at Airbus Helicopters Germany, told journalists during company briefings here on March 3.

In addition to the complexity of integrating the system onto the aircraft, engineers also must consider thermal management and the interaction of thermal engine power with electrical power, Plaum explained.

One challenge will be the development of algorithms that will work in a similar way to a Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) that will be able to work with both the engine and the motors.

This will consider when best to use electrical power and thermal power together and how that information should be best displayed to the pilot.

Where the batteries will be fitted to the aircraft has yet to be formally decided. But a model of the aircraft displayed at last year’s ILA Air Show in Berlin had suggested the batteries would be fitted into panniers attached to both sides of the helicopter’s fuselage. Plaum said there were several options for their fitment.

The aircraft’s main transmission system will be unchanged, as it is already built to accommodate two engines. Existing linkages will be fitted to the thermal engine and to the two electric motors.

“We are learning with this how to master such a system on a helicopter,” Plaum said. “Our studies tell [us] this will deliver a 30% fuel saving, but we want to see that for real in flight.”

Pioneerlab is one of four demonstrator helicopters the company is using to rapidly innovate new technologies and push them closer to certification.

Others are the clean-sheet design DisruptiveLab platform, the Flightlab aircraft based on the H130 single-engine light helicopter, and the Rapid and Cost-Effective Rotorcraft (RACER) high-speed helicopter demonstrator.

Ahead of the hybrid system integration, Pioneerlab has been used to trial a lidar-based rotor strike protection system for twin-engine rotorcraft, and an obstacle protection system using a range of sensors including both lidar and radar. The company has also been experimenting with an optical system that allows the aircraft to perform automatic landing and takeoff. The company is also using the aircraft to examine the use of alternative, lower environmental impact materials on the aircraft.

The PioneerLab aircraft are partially co-funded by the Federal German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Actions through its national research program LuFo.