Hydraulics are not dead, declares Safran
More electric systems are gaining ground aboard new aircraft but they will not force hydraulics out in the near or even mid term, according to Alain Coutro

More electric systems are gaining ground aboard new aircraft but they will not force hydraulics out in the near or even mid term, according to Alain Coutrot, Safran’s deputy director for research and technology. Moreover, he said, depending on the size of the aircraft, electric power addresses different needs.

“In 30 years from now, we will still have some hydraulic power aboard aircraft,” Coutrot predicted. This could be local power, such as electro-hydraulic actuators, which generate hydraulic power from a local tank and do not rely on ducts that supply fluid all over the aircraft.