Rolls-Royce has received an £865 million ($1.4 billion) contract to provide long-term support services for the Eurojet EJ200 engines that power the UK Royal Air Force's Eurofighter Typhoon strike aircraft.
Minister for Defence Equipment and Support Quentin Davies announced the 10-year award during a parliamentary statement on 14 January, describing it as "an enduring spares-inclusive availability service for the Typhoon engine".
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© Craig Hoyle/Flight International |
He said: "This contract will see Rolls-Royce taking a major role in ensuring the availability of the Typhoon fleet to meet its standing and operational commitments." The commitment "demonstrates the Ministry of Defence's commitment to partnering with British industry to get more efficient support for our frontline Typhoon fighter force," he added.
R-R has supported operations of the RAF’s Typhoons since 2001 under two earlier availability-based support contracts.
Confirmation of the new engine deal follows the signature of a through-life support and maintenance contract with BAE Systems in March 2009 for the Typhoon airframe and other related systems. Dubbed the Typhoon Availability Service, this was valued at £450 million for an initial period of five years.
Work under both deals will be concentrated at the UK's main operating base for the Typhoon: RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire. The service has 59 Eurofighters in use, according to Flightglobal's MiliCAS database.
Securing the RAF support deal represents the second Typhoon-related success for R-R inside a month. The company in mid-December announced its receipt of two contracts – including one to its Rolls-Royce Saudi Arabia subsidiary– to support Riyadh’s EJ200 engines over a three-year period.
“Initial support activity on the EJ200 engines will be conducted in Saudi Arabia”, the company says, with deeper maintenance to be performed in Europe as required.
The latter deal was placed via BAE as part of Project Salam, through which the Royal Saudi Air Force will eventually operate a fleet of 72 Typhoons. Eight of an initial 24 UK-built examples have been delivered so far, according to MiliCAS.
Source: Flight International
