Ministry Of Defence: £865m engine contract for RAF’s fastest jets

A ten-year £865M contract has been placed with Rolls-Royce for the engines on the Royal Air Force’s most advanced fighter jet, the Typhoon, the MoD announced today.

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.

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.”

The 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. Typhoon has now been operational in the air defence role for well over two years and a multi-role capability was integrated and declared combat ready by the RAF in July 2008.

“The signature of this partnering contract builds on this success and will underpin Typhoon’s growing capability and utilisation.”

Work on these 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. Some of the work will be undertaken at Rolls-Royce Ansty in Leicestershire and Rolls-Royce Filton in Bristol.
The contract will also provide support to deployed operating bases and the Falkland Islands. 

This new 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, drawing on best practice and lessons learnt on previous MoD and Rolls-Royce support arrangement contracts. Future support of the Typhoon aircraft is focussed on building partnering arrangements with BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce for both the aircraft and engines.

Notes to Editors:

1.  The Typhoon is the RAF’s newest high-performance multi-role fighter, capable of employment in a wide range of roles, including air defence and ground attack. 
Systematically replacing the Tornado F3 on air defence duties, the Typhoon is currently based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, with RAF Leuchars in Fife designated as a second operating base from 2010.  A flight of Typhoons has also replaced the Tornado F3s in the Falkland Islands.

VITAL STATISTICS (GENERAL TO ALL TYPHOON AIRCRAFT)

Powerplant
Two Eurojet EJ200 turbojets
Thrust: 20,000lbs each

Dimensions
Length: 15.96m
Wingspan: 11.09m
Height: 5.29m
Weight: 21 tonnes
Speed: Approx Mach 2
Ceiling: 55,000ft 
Aircrew: One

Weapon Systems
Includes:
Missiles: AMRAAM and ASRAAM
Bombs: Paveway II, Enhanced Paveway II, Paveway IV to be integrated from 2012.
Gun: Mauser 27mm

www.raf.mod.uk

For further information please contact the following:

David Hunter, MoD Press Office London on 0207 218 3256. david.hunter258@mod.uk

Nick Britton, Rolls-Royce Comms Mgr on 0117 979 5943  nick.britton@rolls-royce.com

Contacts

NDS Enquiries
Phone: For enquiries please contact the above department
ndsenquiries@coi.gsi.gov.uk