The Protocol Programme: the Aircraft Lightweight Radial Tyre (ALWRT)

总部位于伯明翰的邓禄普飞机轮胎公司获得了150万英镑的政府拨款，用于开发和测试下一代更轻、更坚固的飞机轮胎。这个为期三年的项目将与空中客车（Airbus）合作进行，届时，世界上唯一一家专业飞机轮胎制造商和翻新商将专注于为A320系列飞机的当前和未来版本开发主轮子午线轮胎。随着燃料成本和环境压力的增加，飞机制造商渴望找到新的方法来减轻飞机的重量，同时使它们更加坚固，他们希望零部件制造商，包括生产轮胎的制造商，在这方面支持他们。该项目总成本将超过300万英镑，由邓禄普飞机轮胎公司的首席设计师史蒂夫·巴洛监督。他说：“我们正在遵循一个分阶段的过程，这将允许我们在设计新产品之前使用新材料和建模技术进行创新。”“我们将投资新的制造和测试设备，并计划在2014年准备好第一个原型轮胎。”邓禄普飞机轮胎董事长伊恩•埃德蒙森补充道：“我相信英国的制造业前景光明——我们能够在五年内将收入翻一番，并将伯明翰生产的80%的产品用于出口，这一事实清楚地表明了这一点。”“这笔拨款标志着英国政府致力于帮助中小企业在全球航空航天工业中繁荣发展。“我们有100多年的历史，但只有通过研究，邓禄普飞机轮胎的目标不仅是跟上竞争对手的步伐，而且是超越竞争对手。”150万英镑的赠款由政府技术战略委员会授予邓禄普飞机轮胎，英国创新机构通过刺激和支持商业主导的创新来加速经济增长。

Birmingham-based Dunlop Aircraft Tyres has secured a £1.5 million government grant to develop and test next-generation aircraft tyres that will be lighter and more robust.The three-year project, which is being run in collaboration with Airbus, will see the world’s only specialist aircraft tyre manufacturer and retreader focus on developing main-wheel radial tyres designed for current and future versions of the A320 family of aircraft.With fuel costs and environmental pressures increasing, airframers are keen to find new ways to reduce the weight of their aircraft while making them even more robust and they expect component manufacturers, including those producing tyres, to support them in this driveThe project, which in total will cost more than £3 million, is being overseen by Dunlop Aircraft Tyres’ chief designer, Steve Barlow.“We are following a phased process which will allow us to innovate with new materials and modelling techniques before designing a new product,” he said.“We will be investing in new manufacturing and testing equipment and plan to have the first prototype tyres ready by 2014.”Dunlop Aircraft Tyres’ chairman, Ian Edmondson, added: “I believe that manufacturing has a bright future in the UK – the fact that we have been able to double our revenues in five years and export 80 per cent of the products we make in Birmingham is a clear indicator of this.“This grant signals the UK government’s commitment to helping small and medium-sized businesses to prosper in the global aerospace industry.“We have a history spanning more than 100 years, but it is only through research that Dunlop Aircraft Tyres aims not just to keep pace with but to leapfrog its competitors.”The £1.5 million grant was awarded to Dunlop Aircraft Tyres by the Government’s Technology Strategy Board, the UK innovation agency briefed with accelerating economic growth by stimulating and supporting business-led innovation.