Safran signs an agreement with FLYING WHALES to equip its LCA60T airship with electrical systems

FLYING WHALES, which is developing an ambitious airship program with high payload capacity, and Safran Electrical & Power announce the signing of an agreement to equip LCA60T airships with generation, distribution and conversion systems electric.

With the FLYING WHALES Large Capacity Airship 60 Tons (LCA60T) project, for the first time in history, an aircraft will load and unload up to 60 tonnes of hover cargo. This rigid airship is intended for the timber, freight and exceptional transport markets. It will provide an advantageous solution to the global needs for the transport of heavy or oversized loads, for point-to-point journeys, at low operating costs and with reduced environmental impact.

Safran Electrical & Power will supply all the electrical systems used to power the equipment and manage the airship's non-propulsive electrical networks, ie for each device: the electrical generation system; the complete electrical distribution system; power converters, which will transform 115V alternating current into 28V direct current; and batteries. Safran Electrical & Power will also provide after-sales support for this equipment.

The contract covers the entire fleet of 150 airships for the first 10 years of production. Safran Electrical & Power will deliver the first electrical equipment at the end of 2022 for ground testing. For its part, FLYING WHALES is planning the first flight of its airship at the end of 2024 and commissioning at the beginning of 2026.

"We are very proud to be among the partners of FLYING WHALES, a French industrial nugget which offers an avant-garde project, fully in line with our guiding principles: carrying out point-to-point transport and helping to decarbonize aircraft," said Hervé. Blanc, Managing Director of the Power division at Safran Electrical & Power. After designing the electrical systems for all new generations of hybrid and 100% electric aircraft, we are taking a new step in the aviation revolution with this visionary and unique project. "

“To successfully carry out an aeronautical program as innovative and ambitious as that of the LCA60T, the quality of industrial partnerships is crucial. Working hand in hand with Safran Electrical & Power is undoubtedly a guarantee of success for the electrification of the largest aircraft in the world. The architecture of the electrical system of the LCA60T indeed requires to project into something new. This is what the Safran Electrical & Power teams and ours are able to do, "said Vincent Guibout, Technical Director and Deputy CEO of FLYING WHALES.