Trends & challenges

Rolls-Royce has established a strong position in global markets and is investing in new capability to better meet the increasing needs of its global business and growing customer base around the world. North America is home to some of the latest developments.

Recently, the company has invested in two new facilities in the US: Crosspointe Centre and the Rolls-Royce Outdoor Jet Engine Testing Facility. Crosspointe Centre, located on 1,000 acres in Prince George County, VA, is a new aerospace facility that will provide manufacture, assembly and test for a range of products and components. Crosspointe will also be home to the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing, a unique educational training and development partnership between Rolls-Royce, the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech. The company plans to break ground at the site in 2009.

The Rolls-Royce Outdoor Jet Engine Testing Facility, located on NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, opened in 2007, carries out noise, crosswind, thrust reverse, cyclic and endurance testing. The facility is the first of its kind built from-the-ground-up in the US and is one of only three such sites in the world. This site is key to our commitment to produce quiet and environmentally friendly products.

We have established a new business unit to address the global market for civil nuclear power. With about 2,000 specialist nuclear-focused employees, the company has a significant skills base available to support a number of the phases of a civil nuclear program including providing advice to governments and operators, technical engineering support and safety assessments, manufacturing, procurement and through life support. The company’s strength in nuclear power originates from its involvement in the development and support of the nuclear steam raising plant for the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarine program.

Today, Rolls-Royce engines power 3,800 aircraft for leading US and Canadian airlines and corporate operators, and 3,800 civil turbine helicopters in the region. More than 23 per cent of the US military aircraft fleet uses Rolls-Royce engines, making the US Department of Defense the company’s largest government customer world wide. Rolls-Royce is the market leader for marine applications with the broadest range of services and products of any marine supplier.