Leading companies in ram air turbine for the aerospace and defence industry

The aerospace and defence industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by the need to lower operational costs, consumer trends, and electrification, and growing importance of technologies such as hydrogen and electric aircraft and advanced materials.

In the last three years alone, there have been over 174,000 patents filed and granted in the aerospace and defence industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Environment Sustainability in Aerospace, Defence & Security: Ram air turbine.

However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilising and reaching maturity.

Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.

According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the aerospace and defence industry using innovation intensity models built on over 262,000 patents, there are 180+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry. 

Within the emerging innovation stage, bonded fibre laminates, thermoplastic elastomer laminates, and vibration suppression devices are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely.

Centrifugal fan impellers, ceramic composite laminates, and gas turbine engine testing are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing.

Among maturing innovation areas are protective blade coatings and blade alloy welding, which are now well established in the industry.  

A ram air turbine (RAT) is a turbine-based engine that serves as a secondary, emergency power source for aircraft hydraulic and electrical systems. The RAT functions by using the velocity of the aircraft to drive a turbine, which then drives a generator, thereby converting the aircraft’s kinetic energy to a useable form, powering aircraft sub-systems.

GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies.

According to GlobalData, there are 20+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established aerospace and defence companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of ram air turbine.

‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.

‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.

Raytheon Technologies is the leading patent filer in ram air turbines amongst aerospace and defence companies. The company is heavily invested in the production of aircraft engines through its Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney subsidiaries. Other key patent filers include Safran, Airbus, Lockheed Martin and Rolls-Royce.

In terms of application diversity, Rolls-Royce leads the pack. Lockheed Martin and Safran stood in the second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, Safran takes the top position, followed by Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

Ram air turbines are capable of generating large amounts of thrust and accelerating aircraft to very high supersonic speeds. These speeds have applicability in defence roles, and in some commercial supersonic aircraft which are also under development.

To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the aerospace and defence industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Defence.