Dr Allison Gardner

Yes, sovereign capability is vital to ensure this nation’s security. CMCs are essential as lightweight replacements for alloys in high-temperature aggressive environments, such as turbine engines and exhaust systems. They are vital to maintaining technical advantage and capability in defence, offering high temperature resistance, low weight and superior durability. Carbon matrix and silicon carbide matrix composites will be needed in fusion energy systems, hypersonic vehicles, space vehicles and defence infrastructure. At present, the UK has no sovereign CMC manufacturing capability, and there is no sovereign supply for critical raw materials such as silicon carbide fibres and precursors. The Rolls-Royce CMC factory is in California, and it can only supply some civil aerospace requirements, leaving UK defence turbines vulnerable to export controls, US supply chains and tariffs. Lucideon wishes to create a UK manufacturing facility to produce CMC materials and components, including oxide and non-oxide composites. Those products would be world leading. They would replace heavy metal rotating parts in high-temperature turbines on jet engines, making them lighter and able to run at higher temperatures. They would significantly reduce fuel burn on aero engines, giving UK aerospace a huge commercial advantage.