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Rolls-Royce Applauds US House Vote Favoring Competition on JSF Engine Program

Dépèche transmise le 30 juillet 2009 par Business Wire

Rolls-Royce Applauds US House Vote Favoring Competition on JSF Engine Program

INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rolls-Royce applauds the vote of the US House of Representatives today to continue support for the competitive engine program for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The House voted 400 to 30 to include $560 million in FY2010 funding to develop and produce the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team’s F136 engine.

Today’s vote reaffirms the benefits of competition for the JSF engine program, the world’s largest ever fighter program, and avoids handing a $100 billion engine monopoly to a sole source provider without going through a competitive selection process.

The F136 engine, being developed in a joint venture between Rolls-Royce and GE, supports hundreds of jobs at the Rolls-Royce manufacturing facility in Indianapolis. Nationwide, F136 jobs at Rolls-Royce, GE and their suppliers total more than 2,500. Now roughly 70 percent complete, the first production F136 engines are scheduled to be delivered in 2012.

The GE Rolls-Royce F136 engine is on budget, and has been consistently on budget for years. Furthermore, the F136 engine’s solid history of executing its contract on schedule and within budget has led to consistent top program reviews from the Joint Program Office managing the F-35 program.

“The GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team should have the chance to demonstrate the benefits of competition,” said James M. Guyette, President & CEO, Rolls-Royce North America Inc. “This competition will benefit military customers in the US and around the world for decades to come.”

The first complete new-build F136 engine began testing earlier this year – a month ahead of schedule – under the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) contract with the US Government Joint Program Office for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.

Today’s vote also maintains the House’s 14 year record of unwavering support for this program as well as recently enacted defense acquisition reform which encourages competitive contracts in US defense programs.

Notes to Editors:

1. The F136 engine is the most advanced fighter aircraft engine ever developed and will be available to power all variants of the F-35 Lightning II aircraft for the US military and eight partner nations.
2. The F136 engine is a product of the best technology from two world-leading propulsion companies. The GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team has designed the only engine specifically developed for the F-35 aircraft, offering a larger core, extra temperature margin and affordable growth.
3. Rolls-Royce is a global business providing and supplying integrated powers systems for use on land, at sea and in the air. The company has established strong positions in four global markets -- civil aerospace, defense aerospace, marine and energy.
4. Rolls-Royce employs some 38,000 skilled people in 50 countries around the world, and Rolls-Royce businesses are headquartered in the UK, US and Singapore.
5. A significant and growing business in North America, Rolls-Royce employs nearly 8,000 people at more than 66 US locations in 26 states and seven sites in six Canadian provinces.