Collins pursues next-gen electric thrust reversers for Airbus A350 with new sites in UK and France
June 9, 2025
Collins Aerospace is powering forward the electrification of aircraft systems with a dual site expansion in Europe.
The company, a subsidiary of RTX, has committed to opening a new engineering centre in the UK, alongside a production line in France, to scale up its next generation electric Thrust Reverser Actuation Systems (elecTRAS).
Already flying on the Airbus A350, elecTRAS has been put through its paces across 11 million flight hours on more than 600 aircraft. This mature and reliable technology is ready for its makeover.
The announcement, made on 9 June, comes ahead of the Paris Air Show 2025, where Collins and the RTX family will have a significant presence.
Bookmark our PAS25 page for ongoing coverage before and during the Paris Air Show 2025.
Collins Aerospace new centres in Wolverhampton and Colomiers
The first of Collins’ two new centres will be located in Wolverhampton, in the Midlands, UK. Badged as an engineering centre of excellence, this facility will be home to engineers focused on designing the next generation of electric thrust reverser systems.
Around 30 miles to the south of Wolverhampton, the town of Solihull is home to another Collins Aerospace Centre of Excellence, this one for electronic controls and motor systems.
Indeed, the motors and controllers for the Airbus A350 thrust reverser system were designed and developed at Solihull, so co-locating this new CofE close by makes perfect sense.
Working alongside Collins’ engineers in Wolverhampton and Solihull will be the team from the main Aerostructures hub in California, one of Collins’ strategic business units (SBU).
Ajay Mahajan, president of Aerostructures at Collins Aerospace, commented that the project is an “organic way of different SBUs coming together” to achieve the desired outcome.
Also in the works is a new production line for final assembly of elecTRAS, in a highly strategic location. Colomiers, in the southwest of France, borders Toulouse-Blagnac Airport to the west, while Blagnac borders it to the east.
Choosing a location with such easy access to Airbus’ Final Assembly Line (FAL) for the A350 is deliberate. Mahajan said the proximity would allow for closer collaboration with Airbus and a faster, more iterative development process.
Building on a successful electric thrust reverser platform
The elecTRAS is currently flying on more than 600 Airbus A350s. It has proven itself over 1.8 million landings to be reliable and effective.
When an aircraft lands, it needs to slow down fast. One of the ways it does this is by reversing the thrust of the engines to push air forwards and help it decelerate.
To allow this to happen, parts of the casing around the engine – the nacelle – move to redirect the airflow. Known as the Thrust Reverser Actuation System (TRAS), it has traditionally been powered by hydraulic systems of pipes, pumps and fluid.
The electric TRAS replaces this traditional hydraulic system with an electric motor, which powers the movement of the nacelle translating sleeve. An accompanying control box commands the motor, while prognostic health monitoring predicts failures and faults before they become critical.
The system takes 15 – 20% of the weight of the thrust reverser actuator. At a time when airlines are contemplating removing magazines to save weight, heavy pneumatic and hydraulic systems have to go.
“It’s the way of the future,” says Mahajan.
The argument for electrification of aircraft systems
The case for a ‘more electric’ aircraft is strong. Legacy systems built on hydraulics and pneumatics are heavy, high maintenance and complex. Replacing these with lightweight, low maintenance electric motors takes weight off the aircraft, lowering emissions and fuel burn.
Arguably the most electric airplane in service today, the Boeing 787, has become something of a showcase of Collins’ expertise. Electrification ranges from wing ice protection to engine startup, and includes the industry’s first no-bleed electrical environmental control system.
Collins is prominent in its work on electric motors, high voltage power systems (used on the 787, A350 and F-35) and various other projects. All are aimed at taking heavy, complex systems off aircraft and replacing them with lightweight alternatives.
But these aren’t the limitations of electrification of aircraft systems. Moving forward, Mahajan sees a future where wings become thinner, with electric flight control surfaces. “There are still many hydraulic pumps to be lifted off,” he noted.
For the thrust reversers, an investment in the UK and France signals a ramping up of progress, positioning Collins at the forefront of electric thrust reverser technology.
