Italian aerospace company specializing in optical fuel gauging systems and integrated fuel distribution for next-generation civil rotorcraft.
Secondo Mona SPA is an Italian aerospace engineering company specializing in fuel system design and manufacturing for rotorcraft and tilt-rotor aircraft. Their core product expertise centers on optical fuel measurement systems — using fiber optics to gauge fuel levels with high precision in demanding aviation environments — alongside smart fuel transfer pumps and distribution systems. In both H2020 projects, they contributed or led the development of integrated fuel system architectures for next-generation civil rotorcraft, including tilt-rotor and high-speed compound helicopter platforms. Their work sits at the intersection of precision sensing technology and aerospace fluid systems engineering, serving the Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking's mission to produce lighter, more efficient civil aircraft.
Both NGCTR DIGIFuel and STRONGRCRAFT explicitly involve optical fiber-based fuel sensors, with NGCTR DIGIFuel led by Secondo Mona as coordinator specifically to develop an optical fuel level sensor with back-up solution.
NGCTR DIGIFuel covered a full Distribution and Gauging Interconnected Fuel System, while STRONGRCRAFT addressed an integrated optical fuel system for rotorcraft, indicating end-to-end fuel system competence.
Both projects target rotorcraft platforms — the Next Generation Civil Tilt Rotor (Clean Sky 2) and a high-speed compound helicopter — requiring platform-specific system adaptation.
STRONGRCRAFT keywords explicitly flag lightweight, cost effective, and limited environmental footprint as design requirements, suggesting Secondo Mona delivers against these aerospace performance targets.
In their earliest project (NGCTR DIGIFuel, from 2016), Secondo Mona's focus was at the component and subsystem level — optical fibers, smart transfer pumps, and level sensors — suggesting an entry point around specific measurement and pumping technologies. By their second project (STRONGRCRAFT, 2018), the framing had shifted toward full system integration: the entire fuel system for a high-speed compound helicopter, with explicit performance and environmental design targets. This indicates a deliberate evolution from component supplier toward integrated system developer and program leader, consistent with their coordinator role on the first and larger project.
Secondo Mona is moving up the value chain — from supplying individual sensing components toward owning the full fuel system architecture on next-generation rotorcraft platforms, which positions them as a system integrator rather than a parts manufacturer in future Clean Sky or Horizon Europe consortia.
Secondo Mona has led at least one project as coordinator, suggesting comfort with technical leadership and consortium management, not just execution. Their consortium footprint is notably small — just 4 unique partners across 3 countries — indicating they operate in tight, specialist teams rather than large multi-partner networks. This pattern is typical of niche aerospace suppliers who collaborate with a few trusted OEM or research partners rather than broad open consortia.
Secondo Mona has collaborated with 4 unique partners spread across 3 countries, a compact network consistent with the specialized, vertically-focused nature of Clean Sky 2 projects. Their geographic reach is European but narrow, likely centered on the aerospace supply chain hubs of Italy, France, and Germany.
Secondo Mona occupies a rare niche: they combine optical sensing technology with aircraft fuel system engineering, a combination that few European suppliers offer under one roof. Their direct participation as both coordinator and partner in Clean Sky 2 — the EU's flagship civil aviation research program — gives them verified credibility with Airbus, Leonardo, and other major rotorcraft OEMs. For a consortium needing a fuel system specialist with optical measurement capability for rotorcraft applications, they are one of the few companies in Italy with a documented track record at this intersection.
