A 10-year, £865m contract has been placed with Rolls-Royce for the engines on the RAF’s Typhoon fighter jet, the MoD has announced.
The Typhoon engines — the EJ200 — will be maintained and supported under an arrangement that will help to sustain up to 3,000 highly-skilled jobs. Work on the engines will be based at RAF Coningsby, the Typhoon Main Operating Base, and from later this year RAF Leuchars — the new Forward Operating Base for the aircraft. The remaining work will be undertaken at Rolls-Royce Ansty in Leicestershire and Rolls-Royce Filton in Bristol.
The contract represents the culmination of the work undertaken with Rolls-Royce on support for the engine, and will play a major role in ensuring the availability of the Typhoon fleet to meet its standing and future operational commitments. Future support of the Typhoon aircraft is focussed on building partnering arrangements with BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce for both the aircraft and engines.
Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, Quentin Davies, said, “This contract will ensure that our Typhoon aircraft continue to meet their operational commitments as a cornerstone of the UK’s air defence capabilities. We are committed to building strong arrangements with UK industry, in this case to get more efficient and affordable support for our front-line Typhoon fighter force.
“This is excellent news for both the MoD and UK industry with the sustainment of some 3,000 jobs over the ten-year term of this contract. The Typhoon programme directly employs some 15,000 aerospace and engineering staff in some of the UK’s leading companies, and many more throughout the supply chain. Today’s announcement is important militarily and industrially to the UK.”
Head of the Typhoon Team, Air Vice Marshal Chris Bushell, said, “This is good news for us all; the EJ200 engine is demonstrating unprecedented reliability, and this support service will continue to maximise aircraft availability in the most cost-effective way. The signature of this partnering contract builds on this success and will underpin Typhoon’s growing capability and utilisation.”
