£185 million engine agreement

The

(MoD) and

have signed a service support contract for the RB199 engine, which powers the MoD's fleet of Tornado aircraft in service with the Royal Air Force.

Under the £185 million agreement, Rolls-Royce will undertake responsibility for the full engine support and will guarantee an agreed level of availability.

This new five-year RB199 Operational Contract for Engine Transformation (ROCET) follows on from a pilot scheme, under which Rolls-Royce guaranteed availability on three modules of the RB199 engine.

According to Rolls-Royce, this demonstrated substantial cost savings due to a 34 per cent reduction in module repairs, despite the number of aircraft flying hours exceeding the originally planned level.

Under the terms of the contract, Rolls-Royce is the prime contractor for all repair and overhaul activity, encompassing full responsibility for spares, inventory management, technical and logistics support to the customer.

Other contractors that will support the engine availability include Goodrich Engine Control Systems, Birmingham and Wood Group Accessories and Components, Dundee.