R&D tax credits for aviation & aerospace.
Home to global carriers and a growing aerospace base, the UAE is engineering aircraft systems, maintenance and manufacturing at world scale. Much of that work resolves real technical uncertainty — the discipline is proving precisely which part qualifies.
How qualifying R&D shows up in aerospace.
The UAE regime tests every project against the five OECD Frascati criteria. Here is what each looks like in an aircraft system, an MRO process, or a manufacturing line.
Novel
Systems or processes aimed at capability existing aerospace practice lack
Creative
Original engineering and methods, not routine application of standards
Uncertain
Whether the design, repair or process performs to requirement is unknown.
Systematic
Planned analysis, test and certification-grade validation
Transferable
Results reproducible across aircraft, fleets or production runs.
The kind of work that qualifies.
Illustrative projects across aircraft systems, MRO engineering and aerospace manufacturing. Eligibility is always confirmed project by project.
Aircraft systems
Avionics, propulsion or control developments where performance or integration is genuinely uncertain.
MRO & repair engineering
Novel repair or overhaul methods for damage or components with no established procedure.
Aerospace manufacturing
Composite or metal processes meeting tolerances and certification no current method reaches.
Sustainable aviation
SAF handling, electrification or efficiency work with uncertain technical outcomes.
Predictive maintenance
Predictive-maintenance models requiring new modelling on real fleet data.
Advanced materials & coatings
Materials or coatings engineered for aerospace loads and Gulf operating conditions.
Genuine R&D, not routine engineering.
The value we add is drawing this line correctly — claiming what qualifies, and defending it, while leaving out what does not.
- Resolving technical uncertainty in a system, repair method or process.
- Systematic test and certification-grade validation of an uncertain design.
- Novel manufacturing or repair methods with no established procedure.
- Engineering performance or durability beyond current capability.
- Routine maintenance and overhaul to an established procedure.
- Manufacturing to a proven, qualified process without uncertainty.
- Applying published standards where the outcome is known.
- Fleet or commercial planning with no technical development.
£50M+
claimed across 450+ UK companies with a 100% audit success record — including complex, engineering-heavy claims in energy and industrials. The same chartered method now applies to the UAE.
“RDvault is a user-friendly solution that saved us countless hours on documentation and compliance.”
Voltaware — RDvault client
A UAE Aviation, Aerospace and MRO case study will feature here as claims complete under the new regime.
Most MRO is routine. Can any of it qualify?
Routine overhaul to an approved procedure does not. But developing a new repair method — for damage or a component with no established procedure, where success is uncertain — can be strongly qualifying.
Aerospace is heavily certified. Does certification work count?
Certification paperwork itself is not R&D. But engineering a design to meet a certification bar that demanded genuine, uncertain technical development can form part of a qualifying project.
We manufacture to a customer's design. Does that qualify?
Manufacturing to a proven process does not. But where achieving the required tolerances or performance requires developing a new process with an uncertain outcome, that development can qualify.
What evidence will we need?
Contemporaneous records: the technical uncertainty, the analysis and testing done to resolve it, and project-level cost and staff-time allocation. We build this as the work happens — and pre-approval is mandatory before claiming.
Working in aerospace? Let’s find what qualifies.
We assess your projects against the five criteria, handle pre-approval, and build the evidence — before a single figure is claimed.
