More than $84.7 billion in deals were announced across the four trade days of Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) 2026. Boeing walked away with 186 firm orders to Airbus’s 157.

Those impressive numbers, however, only capture a part of the picture. The conversations that mattered most happened on the show floor, among 1,500 exhibitors and over 140,000 trade and public visitors from over 136 countries who gathered in Hampshire, England. OEMs and suppliers alike were focused on how to execute the orders, discussing throughput, qualification timelines, and supply chain constraints. As Aerospace Global News noted, the emphasis has shifted from generating headline orders to increasing production while managing persistent supply chain pressures.

FIA 2026 brought together aerospace’s brightest minds. For Greene Tweed, it was an opportunity to connect with engineers, innovators, and business and supply chain leaders to gain a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of flight. 

Greene Tweed Highlights Innovative Aerospace & Defense Solutions
Greene Tweed arrived at FIA ready to showcase a diverse portfolio of sealing solutions and Xycomp® discontinuous long fiber (DLF®) thermoplastic composite components. As a leading supplier of sealing solutions and complex-shaped thermoplastic components, our offerings were aimed at engine and landing gear applications, as well as different composite structural parts. These composite samples sparked many conversations at our booth as they offer excellent weight-to-strength ratio and allow weight savings up to 60% compared to metal parts. Over the four days of the show, our team had fantastic engagement with existing customers and prospects from around the world.

Greene Tweed’s team of industry experts went to FIA 2026 to connect, learn, and engage. Here’s what stood out to us:

Hybrid-Electric Propulsion Moving to Reality
In commercial aircraft, many attendees were focused on technology advances aimed at next-generation single-aisle aircraft (NGSAA). The three most significant and promising areas for improving aircraft fuel efficiency and flight physics are next-generation engines, advanced hybrid-electric propulsion, and new wing design.

One of the clearest signals from FIA 2026 was that hybrid-electric propulsion is no longer a future technology. GE Aerospace, NASA, BETA Technologies, and Boeing completed the first hybrid-electric flights above 30,000 feet, including a transatlantic crossing that ferried the aircraft directly to Farnborough. While Airbus, RTX, Heart Aerospace and Electra have also been in the hybrid-electric race for a while now, it is electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) and regional aircraft which are the most likely to be the first to adopt hybrid-electric propulsion.

Electra announced an $850 million investment to build a production facility to assemble ​its nine-passenger EL9 Ultra Short hybrid-electric aircraft in Springfield, Ohio. The initial phase will support capacity for up to 400 aircraft per year. A second phase of development will expand capacity of up to 800 aircraft per year. Major suppliers of Electra are Honeywell and Safran for turbogenerators. According to Marc Allen, Electra CEO they were re-writing Part 23 jointly with FAA to include all new technologies and their testing regime. Electra has submitted the EL9 Ultra Short aircraft to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for Part 23 type certification and anticipates a first flight scheduled for late 2027 or early 2028.

Airbus runs its Wing of Tomorrow program, focused on creating longer, lighter, and slender wings to maximize aerodynamic efficiency and reduce fuel burn, parallel to its UpNext ‘eXtra Performance Wing demonstrator program, which is developing a morphing wing. The Wing of Tomorrow program now has three full-scale wing demonstrators using more than 100 different technologies from over 40 partners. At FIA, Airbus announced a three-year effort to assess the Wing of Tomorrow concept in flight on A321 neo testbed.

Among the eVTOL innovations showcased at FIA, the stage was stolen by Vertical Aerospace. Their vertical prototype aircraft, the VX4, made history by completing the world’s first airport-to-airport piloted flight by a full-scale, winged tilt-rotor eVTOL, arriving at the show ground for its first public landing after reaching a speed of 115 mph and an altitude of 1800 ft landing. Throughout the show, the VX4 completed daily demo flights, showing its vertical take-off and wingborne forward flight capabilities. As for its latest aircraft model, Valo, Vertical Aerospace already contracted 75% of the suppliers and is currently in the critical design review stage.

These programs, whether in commercial, business, military, or space, share a common material challenge. The aircraft require components and sealing systems that can withstand the extremely demanding conditions, including extreme temperature, intense pressure, and harsh chemical exposure.

Defense and AAM’s Unified Supply Chain 
The defense segment at Farnborough 2026 moved the conversation from development into production readiness.

The Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), now with Canada confirmed as its first official observer, is advancing toward a 2035 entry into service for the six-nation sixth-generation fighter. There is a race in Europe between UK and Germany who will have the sixth-generation Air Force first.

Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) contestants were probably the most visible and active in military segment of the show. 

BAE Systems has unveiled the Brontanax, a new stealthy CCA, as a production-ready vehicle, with the first example built on production-standard tooling.

The Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat, developed entirely in Australia, is the most mature of the CCA programs and has good potential for export to many countries. This program has already secured international strategic partners like Rheinmetall, Hensoldt, Eaton, Leonardo, and Diehl Defense, and is moving toward Block 3 production in 2029.

Anduril unveiled “Thunder”, a Group 5 autonomous tiltrotor, at the FIA. Thunder is the defense variant of a dual-use rotorcraft under a joint effort with air taxi builder Archer Aviation aimed at leveraging the commercial company’s eVTOL know-how and rotor design. Three to six Thunder rotorcraft could fly in conjunction with U.S. Army AH-64E Apache helicopters carrying equivalent Apache payloads. Thunder is also positioned as a wingman for the Army’s upcoming Bell MV-75.

As the race to bring eVTOL aircraft to market intensifies, mobility companies are under pressure to accelerate their path. To help them keep pace, Greene Tweed has developed a rapid prototyping process for composite parts that cuts prototype lead time by up to 50% compared to traditional production methods. Using this new approach, one defense industry partner reworked a prototype in just over seven weeks, a fraction of the 16-to-20 weeks that traditional tooling methods typically require. In a separate project, a single modular prototype run yielded more than 400 parts, demonstrating the efficiency gains on offer.

Looking Ahead 
The pressure to bring new technology to market has never been higher. That’s why we offer rapid prototyping of our engineered components – both sealing solutions and thermoplastic composites – to help speed up new platform design. We also optimize designs by consolidating multiple metal parts into single molded composite solution. As of today, Greene Tweed parts fly on more than 80% of commercial aircraft – a testimony to how we collaborate with customers during prototype testing through commercialization.

Our confirmed return to Farnborough in 2028, reflects our long-term commitment to supporting our customers and the aerospace industry with advanced technology solutions designed to sustain their growth. If you’re ready to start a conversation sooner, get in touch with us to learn how we can help.