ATI Chief Innovation Officer Paul Adams explores how the UK aerospace technology strategy can guide the sector and investors to maximise the UK growth opportunity.
The latest UK aerospace technology strategy is a practical guide to where the UK aerospace sector should focus its effort, investment and collaboration.
It sets out how the UK can grow its share of a global civil aerospace market projected to be worth around $278 billion a year by 2050, while also accelerating progress towards Net Zero.
For technology developers, supply chain companies and investors, it is designed to help identify the most promising opportunities and make better decisions, faster. Its roadmaps and investment priorities provide a shared reference point, helping industry and finance align around the technologies, capabilities and timescales to achieve the biggest ROI.
Using the strategy to shape your next project
If you are developing a new technology or considering an application to the ATI Programme, the roadmaps are the best place to start.
Across four areas, ultra-efficient technologies, zero-carbon emission technologies, industrial competitiveness and non-CO2 technologies, they set out the key technology building blocks, the timescales involved and the technology readiness levels (TRLs) the sector needs to achieve.
They are also tied to real market opportunities, including next generation single-aisle and re-engined widebody aircraft programmes. That matters, because technologies need to reach the right level of maturity by around 2030 if they are to be in the frame for those aircraft.
The first step is simple: map your current or planned activity against the relevant roadmap and test it against the expected timing and TRL milestones. That gives you a clearer view of where the gaps are, where existing plans may need to shift, and how to show that a proposal will move a technology forward in a way that is both technically credible and commercially relevant.
In practice, many of the most valuable projects cut across more than one roadmap. A propulsion opportunity may depend on changes in system architecture. A step forward in ultra-efficient wing technology may rely on advances in high-rate manufacturing. The strategy helps make those connections clearer. The dedicated industrial competitiveness roadmap reflects the ATI’s strong conviction that the market wants demonstrated industrial capability to produce at rate, quality and cost, not just great on-aircraft technology.
Collaboration is central to this. We developed the strategy with extensive input from across the sector, and that same collaborative approach will be essential to delivery. Many of these challenges are too broad, too complex or too interdependent to be tackled by one organisation alone. They will need consortia that bring together OEMs, primes, SMEs, research organisations and universities.
Done well, those partnerships can accelerate progress, spread risk and help UK teams offer integrated solutions into global supply chains. So if you are preparing an ATI Programme proposal, one of the most essential questions to ask is not just “what are we developing?” but “who should we work with to make this a stronger, more joined-up solution?”
Using the strategy to guide investment
For investors and finance partners, the strategy offers something equally important: a structured view of where UK aerospace is heading, and where capital is most likely to have long-term impact.
The global civil aerospace market is forecast to be worth around $278 billion in 2050. The UK’s ambition is to capture around $41 billion of that annually. The strategy helps investors focus on the technologies, infrastructure and businesses most likely to win a meaningful share of that value.
The scale of the opportunity and potential returns are clear: doubling the UK’s share of the global aerospace market by 2035, then building towards a four-fold increase in value by 2050.
The priority targets for investment across propulsion, aerostructures and aircraft systems show where the UK already has real strengths, and where further research and innovation could unlock significant additional value.
The strategy also points to enabling infrastructure that will matter just as much as the technologies themselves. That includes capabilities such as advanced materials production, electrical power system test facilities, liquid hydrogen fuel system qualification, and high-performance quantum computing. These are not side issues. They are part of what will determine whether the UK can compete at scale.
Many of these capabilities also have wider applications in defence, energy and medical technologies, which strengthens the case for long-term investment.
The strategy does not just identify opportunities. It also shows how public and private capital can work together to back them. Alongside the ATI Programme, there are national and regional funding calls, European programmes and UK government-backed institutions that can support longer-term growth beyond TRL 6.
Through the ATI Hub, we also work with innovators to shape market-led investment propositions that can attract investors, partners and customers to the UK. We have already seen ATI Programme-backed SMEs unlock over £1bn in follow-on investment after receiving an ATI Programme grant.
Working with ATI to put the strategy into practice
The ATI’s role is to set the national aerospace strategy and to help the sector deliver this.
That means working with industry and government to identify the right technology challenges, support strong consortia, and help attract the investment needed to turn strategic intent into real programmes and real industrial capability.
The strategy will inform funding decisions from Batch 51 onwards (opening January 2027), while also shaping partnerships and influencing wider ecosystem activity. More importantly, it should help the sector make better choices about where to focus, who to partner with and what will be needed to win in the next generation of aerospace markets.
Whether you are developing technologies for the next generation of aircraft, building enabling capability in the supply chain, or backing the companies that will deliver all of this, I would encourage you to use the strategy as a practical reference point.
The opportunity is significant. The direction of travel is clearer than it has ever been. The next step is to turn that clarity into action, investment and delivery. If the strategy highlights an opportunity you want to pursue, we would be very happy to talk.
To learn more, visit our technology strategy webpage.
