AgustaWestland Project Zero

In December 2010, AgustaWestland's management approved the formation of a team under James Wang with the intention of producing a technology demonstrator incorporating as many new innovations as possible on a single airframe.[2] Speaking in 2013, Wang noted that electric technologies were rapidly advancing, and that the function of Project Zero was to achieve readiness with electric aircraft technologies: "Rather than waiting for the battery to become even better, then working on electric aircraft technology, the team has positioned itself to be ready for the next generation of batteries".[3]

At AgustaWestland and its partner companies, a total of two dozen full-time engineers worked on the project in a skunkworks-style of development at AgustaWestland's Cascina Costa facility in Italy.[4] According to Wang, those appointed to the team were handpicked, and were typically young and passionate; each member had a specific specialty in one area.[5] The team quickly decided that, instead of pursuing an electric-powered but otherwise conventional airplane or helicopter, a more radical approach would be adopted: A twin-rotor electric tiltrotor, lacking any transmission or swashplates. Wang summarised the team's philosophy as "Anything that is bordline impossible, we want to do".[6]

Noting that the AgustaWestland AW169's development had been completed in under four years, management decided to challenge the team to complete the project within a single year, including initial flight testing. The team worked almost continuously, 24 hours per day and seven days per week for the initial six-month period.[6] Team members did not wait on emails or voicemail, instead going directly to one another in person, being based in the same office, this also assisted in maintaining secrecy - direct teamwork in this fashion was heavily encouraged.[7] AgustaWestland's Advanced Concepts Group performed extensive model testing for the project; this involved the creation of multiple flight-capable 1/10th-scale models, which were flown to test the extremes of the flight envelope due to the aircraft's atypical shape.[2] The use of computer aided design (CAD) tools was also essential to meeting the extremely fast schedule of the program; computational fluid dynamics and finite element modeling were both used extensively.[3]

Various companies in Italy, the UK, the U.S. and Japan worked on the design and/or manufacturing of elements of Project Zero, including four different branches of Finmeccanica. Ansaldo Breda designed a custom-built electric motor inverter and accompanying motor control algorithm, Selex ES provided the High-Integrity Flight Control Computer and the Actuator Control Unit.[8] Lucchi R.Elettromeccanica custom-built the axial flux permanent magnetic motors; Rotor Systems Research LLC worked in conjunction with AgustaWestland on the aerodynamic design of the rotor blades.[6] Lola Composites produced the composite material from which most of the exterior surfaces are made of Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP), while UCHIDA manufactured the composite structure for the rotor blades, shrouds, and spokes.[6] Stile Bertone worked to develop the aesthetic and aerodynamic styling of the aircraft.[8]

The designation Project Zero was derived from an observation that this was a unique internal project with no comparable counterpart within the company's history.[2] The development of Project Zero was conducted within a short amount of time; the time between the start of the design phase and the first flight of the demonstrator itself was less than six months.[8] In order to ensure that tangible benefits from the project were made, it was decided that a full-scale aircraft must be produced and flown.[9] In June 2011, a full-scale demonstrator performed an initial tethered flight at Cascina Costa, Italy.[2] According to Wang, there was no need for any redesigning or corrective work "Everything worked - the whole design - first time".[9]

Project Zero on static display at the 2013 Paris Air Show

On 4 March 2013, the existence of the program was announced to the public at the Helicopter Association International (HAI) Heli-Expo.[10] In June 2013, the aircraft was publicly displayed at the Paris Air Show.[11] In early 2014, the Project Zero team was awarded AHS International's prestigious 2014 Grover E. Bell Award—named for Larry Bell's late brother—given to the individual or organization that has fostered and encouraged research and experimentation in helicopter development.[12]

Following the flight testing period, AgustaWestland set about learning from the project and studying means to transfer technologies produced into its existing rotorcraft product line. It has been emphasised that Project Zero itself is not a product, but an investment in technologies to benefit the wider company.[9] Acting as a technology demonstrator, it serves to help to drive innovation in vertical flight for the company. In 2016, it was noted that the active blade control system developed for Project Zero, which removes the need for a swash plate and a separate vibration-damping system, was to undergo flight testing on an AgustaWestland AW139; separately, the flight control laws used by Project Zero shall be used for a future tiltrotor project by AgustaWestland.[13]

Various alternative propulsion arrangements for Project Zero have been envisioned by the Advanced Concepts Group, including hybrid diesel propulsion, the incorporation of fuel cells, and other unspecified technologies.[9] In its original configuration, ten minutes flight time is the current operational limit; speaking in 2016, Wang stated that he is hopeful that battery technology will advance within a decade to support a 100-minute operating time.[14]