Engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce is not interested in competing for the engine portion of the Air Force’s classified new bomber program, according to a company executive.
“I don’t believe we have a product that would suit the needs of the program,” Rolls-Royce Senior Vice President for United States Government Programs Tom Hartmann told reporters Wednesday during a briefing in downtown Washington. “(We) don’t have anything else in the pipeline that looks like that class of motor.”
Hartmann cautioned that he hadn’t seen the upcoming request for proposals (RFP) for the Long Range Strike Bomber (LRSB) and doesn’t know the requirements, but he said Rolls-Royce would instead focus on its AE line of engines and improving their efficiency. Though he didn’t offer any specifics, Hartmann said the company sees improvements like the T56 Series 3.5 engine enhancements as where the market is headed for Rolls-Royce. The company highlighted its effort to expand aftermarket services across all product lines, including standing up new field support at Marine Corps Air Base Beaufort, S.C., and developing a new engine depot at Tinker AFB, Okla., for its AE 3007 engine.
Rolls-Royce said for 2013 it achieved $2.7 billion in company-wide profits with $24.8 billion in revenues for 2013, according to briefing slides presented by the company. It has a mix of 53 percent original equipment with 47 percent services. Rolls-Royce this year was awarded $39 million to service AE 1107C engines for Marine Corps and Air Force V-22 aircraft and a $100 million contract to service Navy T-45 trainer aircraft engines, the company said.
Hartmann said Rolls-Royce is turning its focus from a “heavy period” of developing new technologies to implementing those technologies into the company’s existing products, like the Series 3.5 engine enhancement program. In its briefing slides, Rolls-Royce said its 2013 defense revenues were 50 percent original equipment, 46 percent services and four percent development.
When asked if he was concerned with development being a small slice of the pie, Hartmann said while it looks like a period of low investment (in research and development), he said that is just teh customer-funded portion. Rolls-Royce, Hartmann said, is investing nearly $1.7 billion in company funds across the company for development with defense “getting (its) fair share.” Hartmann said some of these development programs include the AE 1107 engine growth package, AE 2100 Block II turbine improvements and AE 3007 series updates, among others.
The Air Force has been very tight-lipped about its new bomber, which it calls one of its top priorities. The service wants between 80 and 100 bombers, which could bring a total procurement package between $44 billion and $55 billion with a unit cost of $550 million each. The tandem of Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Boeing [BA] have announced their intent to pursue the program. B-2 developer Northrop Grumman [NOC] is rumored to be interested, but the company has yet to formally announce its intentions (Defense Daily, March 27).
General Electric [GE] developed the engines for the B-2.