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Archer to work with Hexcel Composites and build its manufacturing pipeline ahead of announcing production facility location

Archer has entered into a Let­ter of Intent with advanced light­weight com­pos­ites firm Hex­cel, which cov­ers a pro­posed rela­tion­ship to the sup­ply of high-per­for­mance car­bon fibre mate­r­i­al in the man­u­fac­tur­ing of Archer’s eVTOL air­craft.

Under the pro­posed rela­tion­ship terms, Hex­cel would pro­vide Archer with high-per­for­mance car­bon fibre and resin sys­tems, also known as prepreg, need­ed to fab­ri­cate com­pos­ite parts for Archer’s pro­duc­tion air­craft. It would also enable Archer to mit­i­gate sup­ply chain risks as the com­pa­ny builds the foun­da­tion for the pro­duc­tion of its air­craft.

In a press release, Archer regard Hex­cel as an ide­al com­pos­ites part­ner, sup­ply­ing light­weight car­bon fiber and high­ly tough­ened resin sys­tems that pro­vide both strength and dura­bil­i­ty, while reduc­ing over­all air­craft weight and enhanc­ing air­craft safe­ty. Hex­cel com­pos­ite mate­ri­als also exhib­it repeat­able man­u­fac­tur­ing and per­for­mance. 

The announce­ment comes as Archer builds out its man­u­fac­tur­ing pipeline ahead of announc­ing the loca­tion of its air­craft pro­duc­tion facil­i­ty lat­er this year.

Archer co-founder and co-CEO, Brett Adcock, said: “When select­ing a part­ner, our pri­ma­ry focus was on safe­ty and qual­i­ty. We were impressed by Hex­cel’s track record in deliv­er­ing high-per­for­mance prepreg mate­ri­als for the com­mer­cial aero­space indus­try and their proac­tive approach to devel­op­ing cut­ting-edge mate­ri­als.

“Hexcel’s deep aero­space expe­ri­ence and famil­iar­i­ty with FAA cer­ti­fi­ca­tion require­ments will prove invalu­able as Archer moves into its next phase of inno­va­tion and ush­ers in the future of sus­tain­able trans­porta­tion,” added Adam Gold­stein, Archer co-founder and co-CEO.

Hex­cel is a lead­ing sup­pli­er of car­bon fiber, hon­ey­comb, and oth­er com­pos­ite mate­ri­als for major aero­space and com­mer­cial avi­a­tion pro­grams, as well as space, defense and indus­tri­al pro­grams. Designed to reduce weight and ener­gy con­sump­tion while increas­ing pay­load and flight range, light­weight Hex­cel com­pos­ite mate­ri­als will ensure high-per­for­mance dur­ing flight and last­ing dura­bil­i­ty. 

Nick Stan­age, Hex­cel Chair­man, CEO, and Pres­i­dent, said: “This is a ter­rif­ic oppor­tu­ni­ty for Hex­cel to join with an inno­v­a­tive leader such as Archer to bring eVTOL to mar­ket. By select­ing our lead­ing light­weight com­pos­ites, Archer helps improve aero­dy­nam­ics, safe­ty and qual­i­ty in their air­craft designs. We are excit­ed to be part of help­ing them suc­ceed in bring­ing this new tech­nol­o­gy to mar­ket.”

Archer’s demon­stra­tor air­craft com­plet­ed its first hov­er flight at the end of last year, with the com­pa­ny say­ing it rep­re­sent­ed the start of what it describes as an exten­sive test cam­paign in 2022. This mile­stone was after Archer received a Spe­cial Air­wor­thi­ness Cer­tifi­cate from the FAA.

As well as this part­ner­ship with Hex­cel, Archer is also work­ing with REEF to cre­ate urban take-off and land­ing sites and Stel­lan­tis — for­mer­ly Fiat Chrysler Auto­mo­biles — where it will ben­e­fit from FCA’s low-cost sup­ply chain, advanced com­pos­ite mate­r­i­al capa­bil­i­ties and engi­neer­ing and design expe­ri­ence.

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Jason Pritchard

Jason Pritchard is the Editor of eVTOL Insights. He holds a BA from Leicester's De Montfort University and has worked in Journalism and Public Relations for more than a decade. Outside of work, Jason enjoys playing and watching football and golf. He also has a keen interest in Ancient Egypt.

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