Collins Aerospace Goes Bigger with Megawatt Motor

This week at the Paris Air Show, Collins Aerospace is displaying a full-scale model of the one-megawatt motor to power parent company RTX’s hybrid-electric flight demonstrator. It is also showing a 250-kilowatt electric motor and associated power electronics for Airbus’ PioneerLab project that will convert a twin-turboshaft H145 helicopter to hybrid-electric power.

Packing enough power to support a small electric commuter airplane, the megawatt motor represents one of the first steps that the RTX subsidiary is taking to ramp up from power ratings of 500 kilowatts to the 20-megawatt class needed for future narrowbodies.

“We are building a scalable product family for motors,” Kristin Smith, v-p of electric power systems at Collins Aerospace’s power and controls division, told AIN. So far, the company has revealed plans for three motors with power ratings of one megawatt, 500 kilowatts, and 250 kilowatts. 

RTX’s hybrid-electric flight demonstrator program aims to modify a de Havilland Canada Dash 8 turboprop twin with Collins Aerospace’s one-megawatt electric motors combined with highly efficient thermal engines developed by sister company Pratt & Whitney Canada. That program aims to demonstrate a 30% improvement in fuel efficiency and carbon emissions compared with today’s turboprops.

For the PioneerLab demo, the H145’s engines will be replaced with a hybrid-electric P&WC PW210 turboshaft derivative combined with two Collins 250-kilowatt electric motors and controllers. According to Airbus, the program is on track for first flight in 2027.

Collins and Pratt & Whitney are also both contributing to the European Union’s Clean Aviation initiative, including the SWITCH (Sustainable Water Injecting Turbofan Comprising Hybrid-electrics) and HECATE (Hybrid-electric Regional Aircraft Distribution Technologies) programs. 

SWITCH aims to demonstrate the potential of hybrid-electric and heat-recuperating turbofan technologies to improve fuel efficiency and curb emissions in short- and medium-range airliners. The SWITCH demonstrator will feature a hybrid Pratt & Whitney PW1100G Geared Turbofan engine with a pair of Collins megawatt-class electric motor generators and motor controllers. The Collins motor and motor controller passed a preliminary design review last year. 

Collins is now preparing for ground tests of the one-megawatt SWITCH motor, scheduled to begin in the third quarter at a $50 million laboratory in Rockford, Illinois, known as “The Grid.” Launched in 2023, The Grid was designed to test systems using up to eight megawatts of electricity—enough to power a small town—and can scale to support 15 megawatts in the future, Smith explained. “Something with higher power that the industry hasn’t seen before requires a new lab,” Smith said.

A company spokesperson told AIN that Collins has multiple motors already undergoing ground tests at its Electronic Controls and Motor Systems Center of Excellence in Solihull, England, as well as Pratt & Whitney Canada’s facilities in Longueuil, Quebec.

In addition to developing hybrid-electric powertrains for future aircraft, Collins Aerospace’s electric power systems division also works with other types of electrified components for traditional aircraft. On June 9, Collins announced two new European facilities that will support those electrification efforts: an engineering center in Wolverhampton, UK, and a production line for its electric thrust reverser actuation systems (elecTRAS) in Colomiers, France. 

Engineers at the Wolverhampton facility will research and develop next-generation electric thrust reverser actuation systems for commercial aircraft, while the Colomiers location will handle final assembly. 

According to Collins, replacing traditional hydraulic-powered thrust reverser actuation systems with elecTRAS makes engines easier to maintain and reduces system weight by 15% to 20%, improving fuel efficiency and engine performance. Collins already supplies its elecTRAS system for the Airbus A350 family, with more than 600 aircraft in service. The latest generation of elecTRAS has accrued around 11 million flight hours and 1.8 million flight cycles of in-service operational experience.