Three European aerospace research organizations – the Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory, the German Aerospace Center and the French Office National d'Etudes et de Recherches Aerospatiales – announced Wednesday they are integrating their aerodynamic wind tunnel facilities.
Under a cooperative agreement, the agencies will form an Aero Testing Alliance, with headquarters in Noordoostpolder, the Netherlands. The new organization will consolidate the existing German and Dutch wind tunnel operations.
As a first step, DNW and ONERA will perform joint activities involving not only technical co-operation, but also marketing and acquisition of contracts for their wind-tunnel services. The agencies also will discuss joint investments in equipment.
The ATA's goal is to provide more effective wind tunnel services, in terms of quality, responsiveness and costs, to the European aeronautical industry and research community.
Since 1988, DLR, NLR and ONERA have cooperated as joint owners of the European Transonic Wind tunnel, together with their U.K. partner.
