Deutsche Aircraft has announced a partnership with Liebherr-Aerospace to develop and supply the flap and spoiler actuation system for the D328eco aircraft, a game-changing platform that paves the way towards a zero-emission flight objective.

Liebherr will contribute to the development of the D328eco with highly-engineered “Made in Germany” parts that follow sustainable manufacturing practices aligned with both companies’ future environmental goals.

The parts will be manufactured by Liebherr-Aerospace, based in Lindenberg, Germany, where they already benefit from decades of experience as a German manufacturing centre of excellence, supplying state-of-the-art technology to the aviation industry.

The D328eco’s new flap control unit meets the highest industry standards and constitutes an evolution of today’s control electronics and fly-by-wire flight controls developed by Liebherr-Aerospace, that are already certified and operating successfully.

The modularity of the components ensures the shortest time to market with the highest maturity. The latest design methods and component generations are used to achieve maturity as well as long-term product reliability. In line with Deutsche Aircraft’s sustainability objectives, REACh-compliant manufacturing processes have been adopted as part of the current project and Liebherr-Aerospace will be supporting Deutsche Aircraft with the production of REACh-compliant flight control actuation for the D328eco.

Liebherr will develop and deliver the flap control unit, including application and control software. The unit is composed of a command/monitor architecture and is designed according to the DAL A with a DAL C Command Lane and the DAL A Monitor Lane.

Deutsche Aircraft’s Director of Supply Chain, Maximilian Fahr, said: “The strategic partnership with Liebherr is another step towards building a resilient and sustainable supply chain based on the fundamentals of quality, time to market and regional proximity. We have been seeing stronger levels of resilience in the supply chain with players that have higher quality products and more sustainable and automated manufacturing processes. Liebherr-Aerospace is at the forefront of what the industry can do best and we will build on these assets.”

Thomas Hummel, Director Sales & Marketing at Liebherr-Aerospace, said: “We are very happy to count Deutsche Aircraft among our customers. Based on our experience and know-how gained during the last six decades – including our program participation in the Do328 – we are looking forward to provide state-of-the-art technology made in Germany for the D328eco.”