Public funding and partners

Public funding

Aviation is of paramount economic and geopolitical importance for Germany and Europe. In order to strengthen local companies in global competition, the EU, federal and state governments have been supporting the industry in various research programs for decades. Background: Disruptive technology developments entail an enormous entrepreneurial risk and can only be realized with the help of public funding.

Diehl Aviation itself invests millions in research and development. At the same time, the company benefits from subsidies, which account for R&D investments. The company is greatly indebted to the European Union, the federal government and the federal states - and gives this back in the form of pioneering innovations, added value and secure and new jobs.

Partners

Large innovation projects in particular can only be implemented together with partners, including companies, universities and research institutes. In a network, competencies and skills can be ideally combined to create disruptive developments.

The German Aerospace Center (DLR), for example, is a proven partner in the field of large-scale research facilities, contributing expertise in the area of systems and cabins in particular. Together with the Fraunhofer Institute, Diehl Aviation has been implementing industrialization projects on topics such as fiber composites, robotics and automation for many years.

In the field of universities, Diehl Aviation has been working with the Technical University of Hamburg for a long time, for example on projects relating to product development, production technology and 3D printing. The company works with the Technical University of Stuttgart in particular in the field of avionics, while the TU Dresden focuses on topics such as lightweight construction, functional integration and fiber composites.

In addition, our largest customers are among our most important development partners. This applies in particular to Airbus across the entire product range and to Boeing on a project-related basis. Another long-standing partner is Lufthansa Technik, with which Diehl Aviation cooperates primarily in the area of upgrade solutions. In order to intensify the partnership with customers and create even more space for new ideas, we recently established a Customer Collaboration Center in Hamburg and one in Seattle.

Networks

Diehl Aviation is networked worldwide and regularly exchanges information with industry stakeholders - on global developments as well as market trends and innovative technological approaches. One important network is the Center for Applied Aviation Research (ZAL) in Hamburg, which Diehl Aviation has been a member of since it was founded in 2016. The company is also a member of Carbon Composites e.V. (CCeV), an association of companies and research institutions dedicated to the topic of high-performance fiber composites. Diehl Aviation has also been closely associated with the network of the German Aerospace Industries Association for decades. The same applies to the "Lightweight Construction Atlas" of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, where companies and institutions with a high level of expertise in lightweight construction have come together.