Rolls-Royce has agreed a new £105 million contract with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) support for the Adour engine which powers the Hawk jet trainer aircraft, including those flown by the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team - the Red Arrows.
The 11-year contract encompasses two variants of the Adour engine in service in the UK with the work carried out at Rolls-Royce’s UK Defence headquarters in Bristol as well as representatives deployed at RAF Valley to provide on-site advice to operations.
Alex Zino, EVP business development and future programmes at Rolls-Royce Defence, said: “The agreement will allow us to maximise the availability and supportability of the Adour engine for our customer. We have an established and valuable relationship with the UK Government and armed forces and we are proud to continue to support them into the next decade and beyond.”
The Adour Mk951 engine powers the BAE Systems Hawk TMk2 Advanced Jet Trainer, the key platform in the Fast Jet Pilot stream within the UK Military Flying Training System (MFTS) and the Hawk TMk1 aircraft, operating in the Red Arrows which are powered by the Adour Mk151 variant.
Adour is a collaborative engine between Rolls-Royce and Safran. This engine is a twin-spool, counter-rotating turbofan engine that delivers thrust in the range of 5,000 to 8,000lb.