The facility allows Antonov to consolidate its product development activity onto one site. The company said it would help strengthen its engineering services to the automotive industry, particularly for the export market.

The enlarged test and development capability includes dedicated rigs for the development and production pass-off testing of superchargers and two-speed drives. The automatic transmission facilities now include a hydraulic flow bench and low load spin rig in addition to the existing clutch test rig and transmission dynamometer. Data acquisition is all through direct digital capture.

The facility provides a high quality working environment and has space for future growth. The core team is already in place, and Antonov said it will continue to recruit engineers to meet programme demand.

John Moore, chief executive officer, said: ‘By this time next year we expect to be employing a team of 30 highly experienced engineers working on current and future client projects. There is a wealth of automotive engineering know-how and experience in this area - which is why we’ve located here - and we’re close to other automotive technology specialists and sub-suppliers.’

Source : The Engineer Online