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2023-02-01

Collins Aerospace:At the Forefront of Connected Battlespace Solutions

Collins Aerospace, a Raytheon Technologies company, has been at the forefront of leveraging the latest digital technologies to ensure allied forces can maintain their advantage in the rapidly evolving threat environment.

In an interview, Amal Osman, Managing Director, Middle East & Africa, Collins Aerospace, discusses how the company is helping armed forces in the Middle East prepare for future conflicts by bringing new technologies and capabilities to the region. She also sheds light on the company’s participation at IDEX and sustainability in aviation. Excerpts from the interview:

Your vast experience in the field reflects your passion for aerospace sector. Are things moving in the right direction for the industry?

With the effects of ongoing geopolitical changes and diplomatic tensions currently being seen in Russia, China and the Middle East, it’s becoming clear that a new age of military operations is arising. Defence is moving towards a more connected battlespace, and multi-domain (MDO) and joint all-domain operations are becoming the defining doctrine of this new era with programmes like the Joint-all domain command and control (JADC2) in the U.S. Integrated technologies and joint connectivity can provide warfighters with the actionable data and increased situational awareness they need to make informed, split-second decisions in evolving threat conditions against cyber-sophisticated adversaries at the tactical edge of the battlefield.

At Collins Aerospace, we are at the core to connect the battlespace with our long history of providing software-defined radios, gateway solutions and communication systems. We’re ready to help them leverage the latest digital technologies and artificial intelligence to ensure allied forces can maintain their advantage in the rapidly evolving threat environment.

In terms of utilisation of new technologies, what way do you think Collins delivers enhanced capabilities to customers worldwide?

From aircraft nose to tail and from the battlespace to deep space, we’re constantly collaborating with customers and partners across Raytheon Technologies, pioneering new technologies to transform limitless ideas into breakthrough solutions.

We’re working side-by-side with our customers and partners to develop new and more advanced technologies and make them a reality. We are focusing on seven strategic initiatives:

• To enable hybrid-electric propulsion for more fuel-efficient flights.

• To create lighter-weight, higher-performing structures to decrease maintenance.

• To reduce pilot workload with more autonomous operations.

• To combine modern design with innovative technology for a best-in-class cabin experience.

• To transform the use of data into powerful insights that improves airline and airport operations as well as passenger experiences.

• To deliver more digital systems for the connected airspace and battlespace to support faster decision-making and improved mission effectiveness.

• To drive forward more sustainable practices and products while accelerating advancements in technology and embracing digital transformation.

These progresses are only possible when you recognise it’s not just the pieces and parts that move our industry forward but how they all fit together. And that’s what we know better than anyone else.

Collins has been present in the Middle East for over two decades. What are the new projects planned in the region and especially the UAE?

Working together with the Armed Forces in the region for years contributed to creating real customer intimacy while improving our solutions with the experience and understanding of the regional operational requirements. Customers need a partner to help them work through pain points in their operations and take advantage of new intelligent and connected systems to integrate all domains and assets into one battlespace. As the battlespace becomes increasingly more contested and complex, we are working with our customers on new solutions allowing seamless data sharing and autonomous and intelligent operations thanks to our connectivity and secure processing solutions to help them enable interoperability across all domains, air, ground, sea, cyber and space, and within coalition forces.

Which particular portfolio of military solutions does Collins view as opportunities in the Middle East?

We’re helping armed forces in the Middle East prepare for future conflicts by bringing new technologies and capabilities to allied forces faster with innovative solutions that integrate legacy and new assets, open systems architecture, digital engineering and militarised commercial technologies. We see many opportunities to accelerate the realisation of resilient, global mesh networks using connectivity solutions and to enable rapid operations with intelligent sensor data processing and mission autonomy for real-time decision-making.

How does Collins Aerospace support the development of local talent in the UAE?

Through our businesses, Collins Aerospace has been investing in the UAE for decades. Together with our sister companies at Raytheon Technologies, we are also fostering an indigenous aerospace and defence industry for the nation’s economic diversification and the development of a highly-skilled, highly productive Emirati workforce.

We currently employ approximately 450 people in the UAE, including Emiratis, across Raytheon Technologies facilities in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and the Jebel Ali Free Zone. We also work closely with several higher learning institutions to allow Emirati students to intern in our facilities in the UAE and overseas.

Collins is also committed to supporting and enriching communities by providing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational opportunities, investing in the local workforce, expanding employee skill sets and supporting the communities where our employees live and work.

What will Collins Aerospace be showcasing at IDEX this year?

As part of Raytheon Technologies, we will demonstrate how our products and solutions efficiently and rapidly address the priorities of our defence partners in the UAE and the region. We are displaying a number of systems to enable multi-domain operations, including unmanned aircraft systems, secure communications and navigation, command and control, integrated avionics, propeller systems to upgrade the C-130H fleet in the region and more.

Clean aviation is a much-talked-about subject. What is Collins doing on this front?

Collins has committed to supporting the aviation industry’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. While that goal is still roughly 30 years away, the plans to achieve it are predicated on taking action now. The more we do in the near term, the easier it will be. This is a huge challenge and a great opportunity. With aviation being a “hard to abate sector,” we must get started now. In 2021, we joined as a Founding Member of the European Union’s leading research and innovation programme, ‘Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking’. In November 2022, we were selected for seven projects, in collaboration with airframers, engine makers, suppliers and academia, to develop disruptive sustainable aviation technologies for the categories of hybrid-electric powered aircraft and ultra-efficient short and medium-range aircraft.

What steps are being taken to accelerate innovations in R&D and manufacturing?

Collins invests in commercial technology that benefits defence without additional government R&D funding. This allows us to move more quickly and meet growth requests from our defence customers, which need a mix of readily available commercial technology and specialised/custom solutions. Our approach reduces time to market as the technologies are already in the works, and we don’t wait on the “demand signal” to begin design and development. We can concretely demonstrate our proven capabilities, de-risking the technologies and meeting a key DoD requirement .

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