Engine maker Rolls-Royce sees its defence services business as a key revenue driver in the Asia Pacific region.
Rob Watson, the company’s senior vice-president for Asia Pacific, says the company’s two biggest defence markets in the region are
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R-R powers a number of key types operated
Watson, who spoke with Flightglobal at the company’s stand at the Singapore air show, quips that the US-2 is his “best aircraft” because it has five Rolls Royce engines. In addition to four T56 turboprop engines, each US-2 has a
Originally designed for the AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat helicopter, the
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“The improved performance that this gives the wing enables the aircraft to land at a speed of 55 knots and take-off at 80 knots in seas of up to 3m, a quality possessed by no other seaplane.”
Watson estimates that there are over 500 T56s in Japanese service.
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Given R-R’s strong hardware presence in these and other Asia Pacific, Watson says his key priority is services related to the company’s installed base.
“I’m keen to develop our services revenue,” he says. “As a corporate entity, services account for almost 50% of our revenue. All our operators are cost conscious and budget constrained, even in a time of growth, but there’s a lot that we can do to innovate around our engines to improve performance and time on wing and improve costs.”
Watson cites a fuel management study R-R conducted in relation to
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R-R has yet to decide if this will be developed into a formal service programme available to other users of its military engines.
Among future sales opportunities for engines, Watson cites a number of programmes, namely Japan’s interest in a possible buy of 17 Bell Boeing MV-22 Ospreys, as well as the arrival in the region of the Airbus Military A400M, four of which will be delivered to the Malaysian air force from 2015. R-R is part of the Europrop International (EPI) consortium that makes the A400M’s TP400 engine.
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Another major potential deal that Watson did not mention, but which the company is all but certainly eyeing, is the possibility that
Source: FlightGlobal.com