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In the rapidly advancing technological landscape, the low-altitude economy is emerging as a promising new sector with immense development potential. Fiberglass composites, with their unique performance advantages, are becoming a crucial force driving this growth, quietly igniting an industrial revolution centered on lightweighting.

I. Characteristics and Advantages of Fiberglass Composites

(I) Excellent Specific Strength

Fiberglass composites, composed of glass fibers embedded in a resin matrix, boast excellent specific strength, meaning they are lightweight yet possess mechanical properties comparable to metals. A prime example is the RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV, which uses fiberglass composites for its radome and fairings. This significantly reduces weight while ensuring structural integrity, thereby enhancing the UAV’s flight performance and endurance.

(II) Corrosion Resistance

This material is rust- and corrosion-proof, capable of long-term resistance to acid, alkali, humidity, and salt spray environments, offering a longer service life than traditional metal materials. This ensures that low-altitude aircraft made with fiberglass composites maintain excellent performance in various complex environments, reducing maintenance costs and safety hazards caused by corrosion.

(III) Strong Designability

Fiberglass composites offer strong designability, allowing for optimized performance and complex shapes by adjusting fiber lay-up and resin types. This characteristic enables fiberglass composites to meet the specific performance and shape requirements of different components in low-altitude aircraft, providing greater flexibility in aircraft design.

(IV) Electromagnetic Properties

Fiberglass composites are non-conductive and electromagnetically transparent, making them suitable for electrical equipment, radomes, and other specialized functional components. In UAVs and eVTOLs, this property helps improve the aircraft’s communication and detection capabilities, ensuring flight safety.

(V) Cost Advantage

Compared to high-end composite materials like carbon fiber, fiberglass is more affordable, making it an economical choice for high-performance materials. This gives fiberglass composites a higher cost-effectiveness in the manufacturing of low-altitude aircraft, helping to reduce production costs and promote the widespread development of the low-altitude economy.

II. Applications of Fiberglass Composites in the Low-Altitude Economy

(I) UAV Sector

• Fuselage and Structural Components: Fiberglass-reinforced plastic (GFRP) is widely used for critical structural components of UAVs, such as fuselages, wings, and tails, due to its lightweight and high-strength characteristics. For instance, the radome and fairings of the RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV use fiberglass composites, ensuring clear signal transmission and enhancing the UAV’s reconnaissance capabilities.
• Propeller Blades: In UAV propeller manufacturing, fiberglass is combined with materials like nylon to improve rigidity and durability. These composite blades can withstand greater loads and more frequent takeoffs and landings, extending the propeller’s lifespan.
• Functional Optimization: Fiberglass can also be used in electromagnetic shielding and infrared transparent materials to enhance UAV communication and detection capabilities. Applying these functional materials to UAVs improves communication stability in complex electromagnetic environments and enhances target detection accuracy.
• Fuselage Frames and Wings: eVTOL aircraft have extremely high lightweighting requirements, and fiberglass reinforced composites are often combined with carbon fiber to optimize fuselage structures and reduce costs. For example, some eVTOL aircraft use fiberglass composites for their fuselage frames and wings, which reduces the aircraft’s weight while ensuring structural integrity, thereby improving flight efficiency and endurance.
• Growing Market Demand: With policy support and technological advancements, the demand for eVTOLs is continuously growing. According to a recent report by Stratview Research, the demand for composites in the eVTOL industry is expected to increase by approximately 20 times within six years, from 1.1 million pounds in 2024 to 25.9 million pounds in 2030. This provides vast market potential for fiberglass composites in the eVTOL sector.

(II) eVTOL Sector

III. Reshaping the Low-Altitude Economic Landscape with Fiberglass Composites

(I) Boosting Low-Altitude Aircraft Performance

The lightweight nature of fiberglass composites allows low-altitude aircraft to carry more fuel and equipment without increasing weight, thereby improving their endurance and payload capacity. Simultaneously, their high strength and corrosion resistance ensure the safety and reliability of aircraft in various complex environments, promoting an overall improvement in low-altitude aircraft performance.

(II) Promoting Coordinated Development of the Industry Chain

The development of fiberglass composites drives the coordinated development of all links in the industry chain, including upstream raw material supply, midstream material manufacturing, and downstream application development. Upstream enterprises continuously optimize fiberglass production processes and improve material performance; midstream enterprises strengthen R&D and production of composites to meet the needs of different application fields; and downstream enterprises actively develop low-altitude aircraft products based on fiberglass composites, promoting the industrialization process of the low-altitude economy.

(III) Creating New Economic Growth Points

With the widespread application of fiberglass composites in the low-altitude economy, related industries are experiencing new development opportunities. From material manufacturing to aircraft production and operational services, a complete industry chain has formed, creating a large number of employment opportunities and economic benefits. Simultaneously, the development of the low-altitude economy also drives the prosperity of surrounding industries, such as aviation logistics and tourism, injecting new impetus into economic growth.

IV. Challenges and Countermeasures

(I) Dependence on Imported High-End Materials

Currently, China still has a certain degree of reliance on imported high-end fiberglass composite materials, especially for aerospace-grade products, where the domestic production rate is less than 30%. This restricts the independent development of China’s low-altitude economy. Countermeasures include increasing R&D investment, strengthening industry-academia-research cooperation, breaking through key technological bottlenecks, and raising the localization rate of high-end materials.

(II) Intensifying Market Competition

As the fiberglass composite market continues to expand, market competition is becoming increasingly fierce. Enterprises need to continuously improve product quality and service levels, strengthen brand building, and enhance market competitiveness. At the same time, the industry should strengthen self-discipline, regulate market order, and avoid vicious competition.

(III) Demand for Technological Innovation

To meet the continuous new demands for fiberglass composites in the low-altitude economy, enterprises need to strengthen technological innovation and develop new composite materials with higher performance and lower costs. Examples include further improving the strength and toughness of materials, reducing production energy consumption, and increasing material recyclability.

V. Future Outlook

(I) Performance Enhancement

Scientists are diligently working to further enhance the strength and toughness of fiberglass composites, enabling them to maintain stable performance in even harsher environments. Simultaneously, reducing costs and energy consumption are also key objectives. For instance, China Jushi Co., Ltd. has successfully improved the strength of fiberglass composites and reduced energy consumption during production by approximately 37% through cold repair and technological upgrades.

(II) Innovation in Preparation Processes

With the rapid advancement of technology, innovation and improvement in preparation processes are in full swing. The application of advanced automated production equipment and intelligent control technologies gives production processes a “smart brain,” achieving precise control and optimization. For example, Shenzhen Han’s Robot Co., Ltd. has developed intelligent robots specifically for composite material forming operations. Through preset programs and algorithms, these robots can precisely control the forming process of composite materials, including key parameters such as temperature, pressure, and time, ensuring consistency and stability in every forming operation. Simultaneously, the robots can achieve automated loading and unloading, handling, and assembly operations, increasing production efficiency by approximately 30%.

(III) Market Expansion

As the low-altitude economy continues to develop, the market demand for fiberglass composites will continue to grow. In the future, fiberglass composites are expected to find applications in more areas, such as general aviation and urban air mobility, further expanding their market reach.

VI. Conclusion

Fiberglass composites, with their superior performance and cost advantages, play a vital role in the low-altitude economy, reshaping its industrial landscape. Although facing some challenges, with continuous technological advancements and market maturation, the development prospects for fiberglass composites in the low-altitude economy are vast. In the future, through sustained performance improvements, innovations in preparation processes, and market expansion, fiberglass composites are expected to unlock a trillion-dollar industrial blue ocean, making greater contributions to the development of the low-altitude economy.