DERBY: Rolls-Royce unveiled yesterday its next generation of fuel-efficient plane engines.
Two weeks after announcing a shock profit warning with government cutbacks on defence spending impacting its military engines business, Rolls revealed plans to build on its successful Trent XWB engine used to power Airbus A350 passenger planes.
“These new designs are the result of implementing our ongoing technology programmes,” said Colin Smith, Rolls-Royce Director, Engineering and Technology. “They are designed to deliver ... even better fuel efficiency, reliability and environmental performance,” he said.
Rolls said that Advance, the development name for one of its future engines, will burn at least 20 percent less fuel and CO2 emissions compared with the first generation of Trent engines that entered service in 1995. The Advance could be ready by the end of the decade, it added.
An even more fuel-efficient model, UltraFan, could be ready for service from 2025.
“Both engine designs are the result of the ongoing research and development investment, of approximately £1bn a year, which Rolls-Royce makes across its aerospace and non-aerospace businesses,” the company added.
Rolls is the sole engine provider for the Airbus A350 XWB, a long-range, wide-body plane which is slated to come into service at the end of the year. AFP
