UK engine specialist Cosworth - better known for its extensive motorsport interests - is looking to grow its fledgling aerospace and defence operation as it diversifies out of its traditional market.

The Northampton firm has already developed two single-cylinder, compression-ignition diesel engines - Unicorn 1 and 2 - the latter a 13hp (9.7kW) model to power the US Navy's new small tactical unmanned air vehicle (STUAV) 2, which is replacing the outgoing ScanEagle UAV. The engine, a £3 million ($4.6 million) investment by the US Navy, is currently undergoing reliability testing.

Ryan Hood, aerospace programme manager at Cosworth, says: "You can just take a model aircraft engine for short-duration uses, but this is for applications where you need a quality engine and fuel burden becomes an issue.

"The military also want diesel for logistics reasons: everything - the trucks, the generators, the tanks - is diesel powered and they have a single fuel policy."

Cosworth also has expertise in making lightweight products. Hood cites its current Formula 1 engine, which produces 750hp but weighs just 95kg. "One of the key things we know how to do is reduce the weight of an engine, so we can take an OEM engine and cut the weight," he says.

The firm uses its Cambridge manufacturing facility to produce lightweight components for the aerospace industry, and its experience with Formula 1 has transferred across, says Darren Dowding, production manager, aerospace and defence.

"The time to market in aerospace is actually relatively slow for us," he adds. "We have one customer that has an urgent requirement at the moment and they need the product in under seven weeks. In F1, an urgent requirement is sometimes the next day."

Cosworth's aerospace operation generates an annual turnover of around £4 million, out of a total of £45 million. "We are investing in moving and diversifying into this market and to build on the halo effect of the F1 business," says Hood.

Source: Flight Daily News

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