Rolls-Royce Gets UK Backing For Single-Aisle Power Ambitions
Rolls-Royce’s ambitions to re-enter the single-aisle propulsion business with a 30,000 lb.-class version of the geared UltraFan engine have received a major boost with confirmation of a jointly funded research.
Rolls-Royce’s ambitions to re-enter the single-aisle propulsion business with a 30,000 lb.-class version of the geared UltraFan engine have received a major boost with confirmation of a jointly funded research and development program with the UK government.
Described by Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan Erginbilgic as “a landmark moment for the UK’s aerospace industry,” the combined 10-year, £2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) program announced Oct. 28 during the UK government's budget statement covers research into gas turbine technologies for both civil and defense aerospace. The program is expected to support 3,300 jobs in Rolls-Royce and its partners by the end of 2029.
No details have been given about how the funding will be split between the two sectors, although there are several areas of potential crossover between technologies in development for the UltraFan 30, the new civil UltraFan version, and advanced military engines under development by Rolls-Royce for the trinational Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) and various collaborative combat aircraft programs.
Shared technology areas between the two are believed to include advanced turbine materials, thermal management systems, power generation and small core architecture features. Derived from the 140-in.-dia. geared UltraFan 80 prototype engine first run in 2023, the UltraFan 30 features a 90-in.-dia. fan with a bypass ratio up to 15:1 and a 20-megawatt power gearbox—less than half the power output of its larger predecessor.
Rolls-Royce, which is proposing the UF30 for next-generation single-aisle projects under development by Airbus and, eventually, Boeing, said: “The UK government’s Industrial Strategy highlights the narrowbody market as the single biggest growth opportunity in aerospace over the next 50 years. Securing a UK engine position on these aircraft could lead to billions more being invested in the UK over subsequent decades, adding £120 billion to the UK economy over the lifetime of the program.”
UK support for the UF30 follows an earlier tranche of European Union funding worth up to €64 million ($74 million) which was announced in March under the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking’s Unified (Ultra Novel and Innovative Fully Integrated Engine Demonstrations) program.
Rolls-Royce completed the concept design review for the UltraFan 30 earlier this summer and is on track to run the initial ground demonstrator in 2028.
