Unmanned Cargo AircraftOpportunities for Logistics and

Aerospace in The Netherlands

Robbert Jan Kooij

Unmanned Cargo Aircraft

Airport Industry development

UCA ExpertiseInformation Logistics Science

Aerospace Logistics

PUCA Founder

Dr. Hans

Heerkens

PUCA Chairman

Dr. Dennis Prak

Professor

Prof. Dr. Ir. Jos

van Hilligersberg

Mathematic Logistics

Research

Dr. Ir. Martijn Mes

Teamleader

Ron NuwenhofProjectmanager

Drs. Robbert Jan

Kooij

Desk Researcher

Ezgi IsikDirector

Meiltje de Groot

UCA Development Team

Region of Twente in East-Netherlands

East Netherlands UCA Ecosystem

Twente Airport

Developments in Logistics and Aerospace

• NL in top 10 worldwide Logistics (World Bank)

• Transitions: digitization and sustainability

• Corona Effect

• More truck transport

• Major disruption for Aerospace

• Shorter supply chains in Europe

• New EU programs

-> Chances for UCA

Smart and sustainable infrastructure

• UCA can provide economic and societal benefits

• “Trucks with wings”

• Now is the time: technologies are available

• In the long run, UCA will be based on business parks

• Use Twente Airport for developing technical prototypes

UCA is a unique chance for Logistics and Aerospace

• Aircraft already fly fully automatically

• Covid-19 accelerates the transition to sustainability

• Potential for a new range of autonomous aircraft

• Blended-Wing-Bodies are suited for UCA, to save more than 15% energy-use

• Airbus and Boeing are investigating and UCA is already tested in developing countries

• Cooperate with European regions with lacking ground infrastructure

• If NL commits to Unmanned Cargo, logistics and aerospace sectors will be united

• This gives an economic impulse to regions with a complex multimodal system

• In NL, Region Twente is seen as a starting point: room for new developments and

existing facilities for experimentation, such as large business parks and Twente Airport

Meiltje de Groot

Director Twente Airport

Hans Heerkens

Aerospace expert and

founder of PUCA

Visions on UCA

Use Cases

• Strategic value chains

• Electronics

• Production supplies (e.g. automotive)

• Medtech

• Fresh

• Certain sea cargo

-6x faster -Less CO2 consumption (~16%)**LCA needed

Forming of Taskforce

Toray Composites

“Toray Advanced Composites wants to explore the

possibilities of composite technologies for UCA. Our

carbon fibre technology reduces aircraft weight

significantly. This is being done on a large scale already

in the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350. Our technology is

also suitable for extreme high pressure cryogen

hydrogen tanks. We deliver technology for the Toyota

Mirai. Through our know how we help to reduce the

ecological footprint of European transport modalities”

Winand Kok, Director Expert Services at Toray Advanced

Composites

Ahrma Logistics

“Inefficiencies in logistics cause 30% waist. In the Netherlands we

dispose of packaging worth 300 million euro.

Platform technology allows the tracking of goods across the value chain

and combined with new modalities such as UCA, we can decrease

waist. Autonomous transport is not about the device, but about the

software. The question is what the development of short supply chains

will mean for large ports such as Rotterdam en Schiphol. During Covid-

19 the Dutch government has to create the right circumstances for

innovative entrepreneurs in the logistics sector”.

Director Erik de Bokx of Ahrma Pooling

Conclusions

• Work on societal acceptance: UCA are professional, mostly high flying aircraft. (there

are a few, not thousands).

• Support working group for design of an UCA family

• Facilitate research for next steps: simulations and living labs in Twente

• Develop existing infrastructure further, on the ground, in the air and digitally

• Invest in creating an attractive playing field. Let government take part in the

development, organize a program and projects

Next steps

• Working group with action plan and roadmap

• Rules and regulations are currently no issue to proceed with these steps, but need to

be followed.

Contact presenter – link to UCA industrial taskforce NL

Projectmanager Drs. Robbert Jan Kooij

Tel. +31 (0)642474985Robbertjan.kooij@oostnl.nl

East NL Development Agency

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