Rolls-Royce power for combat aircraft

Rolls-Royce is participating in two of the world's two largest combat programmes to an unparalleled extent, supplying hardware and technical expertise for both the Eurofighter Typhoon and Joint Strike Fighter F-35 aircraft.

Rolls-Royce is a 36 per cent partner in EUROJET, the European engine consortium that produces the EJ200 - the power behind the Eurofighter Typhoon. Together with MTU Aero Engines of Germany, Italy's Avio and ITP of Spain, Rolls-Royce is engaged in design, development manufacturing and in-service support work for the EJ200.

Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft have entered service with the partner nations of the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain; and the first export order has been secured with Austria.

Rolls-Royce has been involved in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme since its inception in 1996. The company worked closely with Lockheed Martin and F135 propulsion system integrator Pratt & Whitney during the Concept Demonstration Phase. Its role has been to provide all key short take off vertical landing STOVL components, drawing on its unique experience in the field of vertical flight engine design, development and production.

On selection of the Lockheed Martin F-35 as the JSF aircraft in October 2001, Rolls-Royce was awarded a contract worth more than $1 billion to undertake development work on the STOVL system during the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase of the programme.

Rolls-Royce is also partnered with General Electric on the F136 propulsion system for the F-35, holding a 40 per cent share in this programme. Rolls-Royce engineers in the US and UK are working on this programme, for which the company's technical responsibility covers the three-stage fan, combustor, high-pressure nozzle guide vanes, low-pressure turbine and gearbox. In August 2004 the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team was awarded a $2.4 billion contract by the U.S. government for the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase of the F136 engine programme. This SDD phase will run through September 2013.

Much of the expertise Rolls-Royce is able to bring to bear on the JSF programme is based on the unparalleled STOVL experience it has built with the Pegasus engine powering the Harrier fighter family which has established its unique pedigree over three decades. Over 1,200 Pegasus engines have been produced, and customers in the UK, US, Spain, Italy, India and Thailand have accumulated more than 2 million flying hours.

The latest and most powerful variant of the Pegasus, the 11-61, has been in service with the US Marine Corps for a decade, and is now being operated by the Royal Air Force as the Mk107 for upgraded GR7/9 aircraft.