Onera, the French aerospace research centre, will receive over €200m to condolidate research sites and modernise its large wind tunnels.
France has announced an investment of €160m to finance the consolidation of Onera’s research sites located in the Paris region. The three sites in Ile de France (Meudon, Châtillon and Palaiseau) will be consolidated into a single facility at Palaiseau.
The agency will also receive a loan of €47m from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to enable it to modernize its large wind tunnels.
The financing was announced by the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, on 10th January during a visit to the facility at Palaiseau. Onera operates as a public institution under the supervision of the Ministry of the Armed Forces.
The consolidation project, which has been under consideration for many years, is intended to strengthen internal synergies within Onera, as well as with other players located in the vicinity.
The EIB loan — the first to be awarded to a defence organisation in Europe — is aimed at consolidating infrastructure and modernising Onera's metrology instruments to maintain it as a world-leading facility at a time of intensifying international competition.