The newly developed sensing mat by RVmagnetics and Airbus opens opportunities to modernise also defence aircraft repair
Alumni news
13 April 2026
RVmagnetics, a NATO DIANA 2025 alumni company supported through the UK accelerator by Janus Allies and UKDI, announced a landmark collaboration with Airbus. The announcement was made at JEC World 2026 in Paris – one of the most significant composites industry events in the world – a stage that reflects the weight of what the two companies have built together.
The problem they set out to solve
Composite materials are everywhere in modern aviation. Lightweight, strong and increasingly central to how aircraft are built, they are also notoriously difficult to repair. Traditional repair processes rely on thermocouples – a technology that has not kept pace with the complexity of modern composite structures. Sensor installation is time-consuming, imprecise, and ill-suited to the demands of out-of-autoclave hot bonder repair.
RVmagnetics identified this gap and built a solution from the ground up.
What the technology does
At the heart of the sensing mat is RVmagnetics’ patented MicroWire sensor – currently the world’s smallest passive sensor. The mat contains multiple measuring points and requires only a single connection system, enabling real-time multi-point monitoring of curing cycles and heat distribution across complex aircraft surfaces.
It is ultra-thin and flexible, adapting to the strong double curvatures found on aircraft structures. It operates accurately up to 200°C, has been successfully tested across multiple thermal cycles and is compatible with both conductive and radiation heating technologies. Critically, it prevents air leakages and dramatically reduces the time required to sensorise larger surfaces.
The headline result: up to 80%-time savings during sensor installation.
The sensing mat has been validated at TRL5 and the partners are planning to advance into a prototype phase in 2026, with further industrialisation steps to follow.
Why this matters beyond the runway
In the future, this technology could be used not only in civil aviation but also in defence. Composite structures are as prevalent in defence platforms as they are in commercial aircraft – and the same repair challenges apply. The ability to monitor curing cycles in real time, with precision, at pace and without the limitations of legacy thermocouple technology, has clear relevance to military maintenance, repair and overhaul operations.
This is precisely the kind of dual-use potential that NATO DIANA was designed to surface and accelerate through their 16-accelerator sites across the Alliance. A technology validated in a commercial aerospace context carries weight when it arrives at the defence table – it has already proven itself in a demanding, regulated, real-world environment.
Vladimir Marhefka, CSO and Vice-Chairman of RVmagnetics, spoke directly to this trajectory:
"We highly appreciate our cooperation with NATO DIANA and Janus Allies, which is opening new pathways for market development in the defence sector. This collaboration also enables us to extend the market for our new sensing mat to modernise composite repair, developed jointly with Airbus for civil aviation, into applications within the defence domain in the future."
What the Janus Allies accelerator is built for
Supporting companies like RVmagnetics is central to what Janus Allies does for NATO DIANA and the UK. Our accelerator, delivered in partnership with UK Defence Innovation, led in a consortium by IoT Tribe and supported by SETsquared Partnership and Atmos Ventures, exists to help dual-use deep tech companies find the pathways, partnerships and market access they need to scale – across both commercial and defence domains.
RVmagnetics came through the NATO DIANA 2025 cohort with a technology that was already technically credible. What the programme helped unlock was the strategic context: how to position that technology, who to speak to and how to make the case in a defence market that moves on credibility and evidence.
The Airbus partnership is a direct demonstration of what that kind of support can enable.
A new standard for composite repair
What RVmagnetics and Airbus have built is not an incremental improvement on existing technology. It is a rethink of how composite repair sensing should work – smarter, faster, more adaptable and built for the operational realities of both civil and military aviation.
The full technical details of the partnership can be found on the RVmagnetics website: https://www.rvmagnetics.com/rvmagnetics-and-airbus-unveil-new-sensing-mat-for-out-of-autoclave-repair-of-composite-aircraft-structures-266
We look forward to seeing where the RVmagnetics’ team takes it next.
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