LIEBHERR AEROSPACE TOULOUSE SAS

Their core work

Liebherr Aerospace Toulouse is a major Tier 1 supplier of aircraft systems, specializing in air management (cabin pressurization, air conditioning, bleed air), flight control actuation, and landing gear systems. As part of the Liebherr Group, they design and manufacture critical onboard systems for commercial, regional, and military aircraft. In H2020, they contributed systems-level expertise to the Clean Sky 2 programme across all major aircraft platforms — systems integration, regional aircraft, and large passenger aircraft demonstrators — while also participating in icing research for next-generation simulation tools.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2014–2019, Liebherr Aerospace focused on foundational Clean Sky 2 work across three aircraft platform demonstrators (Systems, Regional, Large Passenger Aircraft), with broad but unspecified systems-level contributions. From 2019 onward, their work became more targeted: the ICE GENESIS project added a specialized icing simulation capability, while the second-phase Clean Sky 2 projects introduced explicit goals around noise and vibration reduction, passenger comfort, environmental performance, and integration of innovative propulsion concepts. The shift reflects the wider European aviation industry's pivot from performance optimization toward sustainability and next-generation propulsion readiness.

Moving toward environmental sustainability in aviation systems and next-generation propulsion integration — a natural partner for hydrogen or electric aircraft system projects.

How they like to work

Liebherr Aerospace Toulouse exclusively participates as a consortium partner, never as coordinator — consistent with their role as an industrial systems supplier contributing domain expertise rather than leading research programmes. With 181 unique partners across 20 countries, they operate within the very large Clean Sky 2 consortia, meaning they are well-networked but their partnerships are largely structured by the programme framework rather than self-selected. This makes them a reliable, experienced consortium member who understands the dynamics of large-scale EU collaborative R&D.

Extensive network of 181 partners spanning 20 countries, built primarily through the Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking. Their network is heavily concentrated in the European aerospace corridor — France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the UK — reflecting the structure of the major aircraft OEM supply chains.

What sets them apart

As one of very few companies that supply both air management and flight control systems across all major aircraft segments (regional, single-aisle, wide-body), Liebherr Aerospace Toulouse brings systems-level integration knowledge that most suppliers cannot offer. Their dual presence in both Clean Sky 2 demonstrator platforms and focused research projects like ICE GENESIS shows they can contribute to both large demonstration activities and targeted technical challenges. For consortium builders, they offer the credibility of a major industrial partner with genuine skin in the game — EUR 19M in EC contributions means the underlying Liebherr investment is substantially larger.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SYS GAM 2018
  Their largest single project at EUR 9.1M EC funding — a core commitment to the Clean Sky 2 Systems ITD demonstrating deep integration in the programme's most cross-cutting platform.
• ICE GENESIS
  Their only non-Clean Sky 2 project, focused on next-generation 3D icing simulation including SLD and snow — shows specialized capability in aircraft safety certification beyond their core systems work.
• GAM-2020-LPA
  Involvement in the Large Passenger Aircraft demonstrator covering HLFC, multifunctional fuselage, and innovative propulsion integration — positions them at the frontier of future aircraft architecture.