HERFUSE Advances Sustainable Composite Fuselage Technologies Through Innovation, Industrial Visibility, and Stakeholder Engagement
The HERFUSE project continues to strengthen its contribution to the future of sustainable aviation by advancing innovative composite fuselage technologies designed to support next-generation regional aircraft. Bringing together leading industrial and research partners under the Clean Aviation programme, the project is focused on developing highly integrated, lightweight, and scalable fuselage structures capable of meeting future environmental and operational requirements.
During the past months, HERFUSE achieved important progress in both its technical activities and dissemination efforts, further increasing the project's visibility across the European aviation ecosystem.
A major highlight was HERFUSE's participation in the Clean Aviation Annual Forum 2026, one of Europe's flagship events for sustainable aviation research and innovation. The project was showcased through a dedicated poster presentation, providing an opportunity to share recent achievements and engage with policymakers, researchers, industry leaders, and technology innovators.
The project also gained international visibility through a feature interview published by FlightGlobal, one of the aviation sector's most influential media outlets. The interview with HERFUSE Coordinator Fabrizio Leone highlighted the project's vision and technical achievements, particularly its work on advanced lightweight composite structures for future hybrid-electric and hydrogen-powered aircraft concepts.
From a technical perspective, HERFUSE continues to explore innovative manufacturing approaches that can enable lighter, stronger, and more sustainable aircraft structures. Significant attention has been devoted to the development of advanced joining technologies for thermoplastic composites, including resistance welding techniques that offer improved efficiency, structural performance, and recyclability compared to conventional assembly methods.
At the same time, project partners are advancing the development of highly integrated fuselage demonstrators based on innovative composite manufacturing processes. Activities focus on ensuring manufacturing quality, process control, and scalability, all essential requirements for the future industrial deployment of large composite aerostructures.
HERFUSE has also expanded its communication activities launch of the video series "A Glimpse Before Flight." The initiative offers accessible insights into the technologies, expertise, and industrial processes being developed within the project. Recent episodes have highlighted both advanced resistance welding technologies and innovative composite manufacturing approaches, helping to translate complex research activities into engaging content for a wider audience.
By combining technological innovation, industrial collaboration, and proactive dissemination, HERFUSE continues to demonstrate how advanced composite technologies can contribute to the future of cleaner aviation. As the project moves forward into its final phase, the consortium remains committed to developing scalable solutions that support Europe's ambition for more sustainable, efficient, and competitive aerospace systems.
The project is supported by the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking and its members.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking. Neither the European Union nor Clean Aviation JU can be held responsible for them.