Today, the Netherlands and Germany celebrate 40 years of collaboration in aeronautical research at the DNW in the Netherlands (Marknesse). On the 30th of June 1976 DNW was established by the Netherlands and German Aerospace Centers NLR and DLR. DNW has been instrumental in the development of many European aircraft and helicopters like Airbus, Eurofighter and NH-90. DNW’s high-tech facilities combined with specialist knowledge has made DNW a global player in the aerospace domain. Speakers at the celebration include Dr. Wolfgang Scheremet, Directorate General Industrial Policy of the German Ministry of Economic Affairs, and Mr. Maarten Camps, Secretary General of the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs.
From European cooperation to global leadership
The establishment of DNW in 1976, achieved with the support of the German and the Netherlands governments, marked the start of the first joint venture in Europe operating a large aeronautical facility: a European collaboration ‘avant-la-lettre’.
The collaboration of NLR and DLR in DNW has been a continuous success, starting started with the development and operation of the Large Low-speed Facility (LLF) in 1981. Today DNW operates eleven wind tunnels on five sites.
The DNW has been instrumental in the support of automotive and aerospace sectors. All Airbus transport aircraft (from A300 to A380 and A400M), Eurofighter and NH90 helicopter programs, to name a few of at least 40, would not have been commercial successes without the high quality and efficient testing in DNW facilities. But the DNW capabilities were also recognised outside Europe. The Embraer E-jet family, KC-390 and F-35 have been subject to testing in the DNW.
DNW-LLF was also instrumental in the development of the so-called STOVL capability of the F-35. It was the first short take-off and vertical landing aircraft after the Harrier, and the data derived from wind tunnel tests was of paramount importance for the industry. Also lowering of aircraft noise was only possible due to the aeroacoustics capability of DNW, the counter rotating open rotor concept being a perfect example.
DNW introduced the turbine powered simulation technique and the acoustic array technique for noise source localization.
While having set the benchmark for flow quality, noise background levels and specific testing capabilities, DNW puts a continuous effort with support of DLR and NLR in further shifting boundaries to increase efficiency and fidelity of testing.