(Bloomberg) -- Airbus SE unveiled a model of a sleek, falcon-like jet with rear-mounted twin engines that would look at home in the Star Wars movies.
The two-meter demonstrator model, displayed at the Singapore Air Show on Tuesday, features a so-called blended-wing body that’s designed to reduce fuel consumption.
Airbus test-flew the model, which is dubbed Maveric, in June last year in France and will continue flights into the second quarter of 2020, the Toulouse-based planemaker said.
“We need these demonstrators to evaluate the potential as viable and safe feature projects,” said Jean-Brice Dumont, executive vice president of engineering at Airbus. “We need these breakthroughs, these technologies to meet our environmental challenge.”
Planemakers and airlines are exploring new designs to reduce fuel burn and cut carbon emissions in a warming climate. Blending the wings with the fuselage to cut drag is one of several possible solutions.
Maveric has the potential to cut fuel consumption by as much as 20% compared with current single-aisle aircraft, and opens possibilities for different propulsion systems and cabin designs, according to Airbus.
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