During the 2025 Paris Air Show, the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) and PhotonFirst revealed the development of an innovative Structural Health and Usage Monitoring System (SHUMS) for helicopters. This breakthrough will enable real-time tracking of structural stress and fatigue, enhancing safety and efficiency in aerospace operations.
Unscheduled repairs and maintenance interruptions are costly and disruptive for helicopter fleets. Predictive maintenance, powered by SHUMS, offers a proactive approach by detecting potential failures early, cutting downtime, improving safety for crew and passengers, and significantly reducing maintenance expenses. Accurate load monitoring is key to predicting structural health.
PhotonFirst is launching an aerospace-certified fiber sensing interrogator at the air show, designed to withstand extreme flight environments. The system, which uses fiber optic sensors and integrated photonic chips, will soon be certified for use on NH90 helicopters, setting a critical milestone for fiber sensing in aviation.
Together, NLR and PhotonFirst aim to develop this system into a fully operational SHUMS solution for widespread use across the helicopter industry and beyond, driving new standards in predictive maintenance and real-time flight monitoring.
