Airbus advances hybrid-electric aircraft architecture

The illustration visualises the internal electrical network at the centre of LEIA’s non-propulsive energy architecture rather than depicting a physical aircraft or test rig

(Image courtesy of Airbus)

Airbus and Collins Aerospace both confirmed on 22 July 2026, at Farnborough, that hybrid-electric hardware developed under the SWITCH project has completed subsystem testing and is moving into aircraft-level integration work under Airbus’s LEIA programme. Airbus describes LEIA as a hybrid-electric non-propulsive energy architecture project intended to bridge component-level innovation and aircraft-level maturity. For engineers and procurement teams tracking electrification programmes, the handoff from subsystem testing to aircraft-level work is the detail worth following, since it is the next concrete step Airbus and Collins have confirmed.

SWITCH testing moves toward aircraft-level integration

Collins Aerospace confirmed it completed integrated laboratory testing for SWITCH at The Grid, its electric power systems facility in Rockford, Illinois. Kristin Smith, Collins’ vice president of electric power systems, described it as the largest integrated systems test conducted at The Grid since the facility opened in 2023. According to FlightGlobal’s reporting, the tested hardware included Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engine components fitted with two Collins 1MW-class motor generators on the low- and high-speed spools, with GKN Aerospace supplying the high-voltage wiring interconnection system, per Collins’ own release.

Airbus states that hardware is now moving to its Sustainable Technology and Engineering Projects laboratory in Ottobrunn, Germany, where aircraft-level integration testing will cover design, battery interfacing, and energy-management systems. Airbus frames this as preparation for future integration and certification, without specifying a certification milestone or schedule.

Collins aerospace’s role on LEIA

Collins Aerospace states it is serving as technical lead for energy sources on LEIA, supplying four scalable electric motor and generator units alongside next-generation electronic controllers and power distribution equipment. Its Nördlingen, Germany site is developing solid-state power controllers and distribution panels intended to replace mechanical circuit breakers and relays, which Collins says improves reliability while reducing weight. Collins also says its own testing plan for LEIA will run across its facilities in Toulouse, Frankfurt, Cork, Rome, and Solihull.

Programme scope and partners

Airbus names its LEIA partners as AVL, Collins Aerospace, the European Aerospace Science Network (EASN), Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Liebherr Aerospace, Lynxeo, the Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR), Safran, SAFT, the University of Warwick, and Wroclaw University of Science and Technology. Airbus states the programme is working toward a ground demonstration by 2027.

LEIA sits within the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking, a €4.1 billion public-private partnership split between €1.7 billion in EU funding and at least €2.4 billion from industry. The programme targets at least a 30 percent reduction in the emissions footprint of short-medium-range and regional aircraft against 2020 state-of-the-art baselines.

The next confirmed milestone is the 2027 ground demonstration, when LEIA is due to show whether the components validated separately under SWITCH and LEIA function together as a single aircraft-level architecture. Airbus and Collins both describe that demonstration as a pivotal step toward future integration and certification, though neither release specifies what a successful outcome would mean for a formal certification pathway or timeline.

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