Aerospace & Defence
Within Aerospace & Defence, a broad range of activities may qualify for R&D Tax Relief where competent professionals are seeking a technological advance and the solution is not readily deducible. This can include developing or materially improving manufacturing and engineering processes to deliver high-integrity, safety-critical components where stringent tolerances, surface integrity, thin-wall stability, and inspection requirements must be achieved consistently. It may also include advancing machining strategies, fixturing approaches, metrology methods, or surface-treatment/process-validation techniques where established shop-floor methods or supplier guidance do not deliver reliable outcomes on complex geometries, demanding materials, or low-volume production.
How our skillset can help you claim
Aerospace & Defence work is often constrained by qualification expectations, traceability, and the need for repeatable results under strict tolerance and performance requirements. We work with your technical team to define the advance being pursued, set a clear baseline against established capability, use manufacturing and inspection results to support the iterations made, and separate qualifying development from routine production activity. We then set out the development work in a clear and concise technical narrative, supported by a practical and defensible approach to cost capture, helping you secure funding to reinvest in capability and delivery resilience.
Project Examples
A technological advance could be establishing a process that consistently holds stringent dimensional and geometric requirements across complex parts where standard parameter sets don’t carry over reliably. Progress is typically demonstrated through iterative machining process changes, and repeatable inspection outcomes showing improved stability and conformance.
Projects may focus on developing workholding approaches that prevent distortion, chatter, or movement while still allowing access for multi-operation machining. The advance is shown through successive fixture iterations and measured improvements in repeatability, surface integrity, and reduced rework rates.
Some work targets a more reliable method to predict and control the impact of finishing steps (or intermediate checks) on final dimensions and compliance. The advance lies in establishing a validation technological process that links process specifications and measurement stages to consistent end-state conformity rather than relying on end-of-line correction.
