ULEMCo High Profile at RIAT 2024

For the second year running, ULEMCo was invited to be part of the prestigious Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT). On a glorious summer day, our medium aircraft tow truck (MATT) was kept busy towing F-16 fighter jets around Teesside Airport.

The truck performed flawlessly throughout the day, and in the montage (top right), Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, Chief of the Air Staff, can be seen connecting a MATT tow truck.

ULEMCo has collaborated with Teesside International Airport, RAF Leeming, and Newcastle University on Project ZeHyDA, in which aircraft tow tug vehicles are converted to electric hybrids running with a 100% hydrogen zero emission combustion engine. This enables range extension, keeping the battery charged by burning hydrogen directly in the engine, efficiently and with immeasurable NOx.

This globally innovative HyICE hybrid electric technology is finding its place upcycling and repowering specialist equipment, of which airport ground support vehicles are just one example. ZeHyDA introduces the realistic prospect of zero emission vehicles running on 100% hydrogen in the relatively short term, and provides routes to the much quicker adoption of hydrogen in heavy duty applications.