Rolls-Royce hits the Farnborough tarmac running

Posted on 10 Jul 2012

Rolls-Royce has secured service and maintenance contracts with the US Military and Malaysia Airlines, as well as announcing a new, more fuel-efficient Trent 700 engine.

A Kiowa Warrior helicopter in action. The engines have been serviced by Rolls-Royce for 13 years.
A Kiowa Warrior helicopter in action. The engines have been serviced by Rolls-Royce for 13 years. Image courtesy of The US Army

Company lands $183m (£117.9m / Eu148.8m) US Army helicopter contract

In a service contract that will last for a year, Rolls-Royce will support and maintain around 500 M250 engines on more than 300 OH-58D Kiowa Warrior scout helicopters (the extra 200 engines are spares).

Rolls-Royce has supported the US Army’s fleet of Kiowa Warriors for 13 years, and a spokesperson for the UK company said that the two were “quite familiar” with one another.

The spokesperson said that Rolls will divide its duties between its operations in Indianapolis and California, with field technicians handling a smaller portion of the work.

Rolls-Royce agrees to service Malaysia Airlines’ Trent 900 engines

In another contract win at Farnborough, Rolls has been enlisted to provide maintenance and service support to Trent 900 engines on Malaysia Airlines’ six Airbus A380 aircraft.

Rolls makes the majority of its profits from servicing engines that have already been sold to customers, and in another push to take advantage of the opportunities in this area the company opened its first South-East Asian customer service hub at the main terminal building in Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia.

An A330 at the Singapore Air Show this year
An A330 at the Singapore Air Show this year

New, more fuel efficient Trent 700 engine announced

The engine is the company’s best-selling model, and powers the popular Airbus A330. Rolls intends to finish the improvement project by the end of the year, with the new Trent 700s expected to enter service by the end of 2015.

According to one spokesperson for Rolls-Royce, companies with A330s already in service will be able to retrofit their aircraft with the new engines. The Trent 700 will complement the improvements to the A330 aircraft that Airbus has announced.

Tom Palmer, Rolls-Royce’s project director for the Trent 700, said: “We are committed to continually improving every member of the Trent family as we develop new technology that improves efficiency.

He added: “We now look forward to working with our customers and Airbus to bring this new standard of Trent 700 to the market, where I am sure it will prove popular for decades to come.”