JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #96 - April 2015 - 48

manufacturing

Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi: a key role
in the manufacture of the 787 Dreamliner
Alenia Aermacchi produces the horizontal stabilizer and
the central and aft sections of the 787 Dreamliner fuselage,
which together total 14% of the aircraft's structure. The
company uses cutting-edge machinery and production processes to manufacture the aircraft components, including a
proprietary multispar cocured box horizontal stabilizer.

l

n 2013, Alenia Aermacchi celebrated its
first 100 years of activity. It was indeed
on 1 May 1913 that, with French capital
and Italian technology, the Società Anonima Nieuport-Macchi was incorporated.

100 years of flying
100 years later, the Alenia Aermacchi brand
groups the whole aviation business of
Finmeccanica, the main Italian industrial
group operating in the high technology
sector. Set up on 1 January 2012 from
the merger between Alenia Aeronautica,
Alenia Aermacchi and Alenia SIA, today's
Alenia Aermacchi is the final milestone
of an integration process launched in the
mid-sixties with a view to competing in

interview

the international markets, which already
demanded strong competitors. Alenia
Aermacchi represents Finmeccanica's
aviation sector and is the largest aviation
company in Italy, with €3.34 billion in 2013
revenues, €3.98 billion in orders and a
backlog of €9.0 billion.
The company is a world leader in the
design, development, production, maintenance, and modification of commercial and
defence aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles,
military trainer aircraft and aerostructures.

Innovative solutions
for the future of aviation
Today, with all its controlled companies
and minority holdings, Alenia Aermacchi
counts a total workforce of over 11,000
people and is the main Italian industrial
player in the field of aviation, with activities
JEC Composites Magazine: The Alenia
Aermacchi plant in Grottaglie, Italy, is
entirely dedicated to the Dreamliner and
to composite materials. How long has the
company been accumulating expertise in
composites?

Geremia PUCCINI : Alenia Aermac-

Geremia PUCCINI
Head of Aerostructures
Technology and Development
Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi

chi has been developing and working on
composite materials since the beginning of
the 80's, both for commercial programmes
(B767, ATR 42/72) and for military ones
(AMX, Eurofighter Typhoon). During
the past fifteen years, its involvement was
progressively enlarged to complex primary

48 jec composites magazine / No96 April 2015

equally balanced between the military and
civilian sectors featuring several of the most
important programmes worldwide, from
the Airbus A380 to the JSF, proprietary
programmes such as the M-346 advanced
trainer and the C-27J tactical transport
aircraft, and a strategic position in regional
aircraft through the ATR and SuperJet joint
ventures.
Alenia has a wide network of joint ventures
and product and programme partnerships, such as SCAC with the Russian
company Sukhoi, for the production of
the Sukhoi Superjet 100, a new family of
75-100-seat regional jets; Eurofighter, with
the British BAE Systems and the GermanSpanish Cassidian, for the production of
the Eurofighter Typhoon, a twin-engine
supersonic aircraft; and ATR with EADS,
structures for wide-body aircraft.
JCM: What were the main challenges in
setting up this unique plant?

G.P. : When the plant was designed, the
major challenge was the lack of previous
experience in a similar industrial project,
starting from a unique design concept - like
the one-piece barrel - and having to develop
and produce it.A deep review of all the basic
technology concepts was conducted to
design and organize the production of the
one-piece barrel, so as to last more than 30
years at high rate, ensure high quality and
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #96 - April 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #96 - April 2015
