Rolls-Royce Defence

Rolls-Royce Defence is the military arm of a company whose name is more associated with luxury cars, a mix-up the company itself has spent a century trying to correct since aero engines and cars parted ways as separate businesses long ago. Rolls-Royce began building aircraft engines during the First World War, and the defense unit today sits inside Rolls-Royce Holdings, a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange. The business breaks down into a handful of end markets. Combat air is anchored by the EJ200, the engine that powers the Eurofighter Typhoon, built through the Eurojet consortium alongside European partners, along with the RB199 that powers the older Panavia Tornado still flying with some air forces. For the F-35, Rolls-Royce does not build the main engine but supplies the LiftSystem, the shaft-driven lift fan and roll ducts that let the F-35B variant land and take off vertically, a piece of engineering unique to that aircraft.

Looking further ahead, Rolls-Royce is developing power and propulsion technology for Britain, Italy, and Japan's Global Combat Air Programme, the sixth-generation fighter effort known as Tempest in the UK. Transport and mobility engines power aircraft like the C-130 through the AE 2100 and related turboprops, and the helicopter side supplies engines including the AE 1107C used in the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor and the CTS800, developed jointly with Honeywell, which powers several military helicopters. Naval propulsion is a separate and highly specialized business. Rolls-Royce makes the MT30 marine gas turbine, one of the most powerful engines of its type in service, fitted to ships including the UK's Type 26 frigate and used elsewhere internationally, alongside diesel engines, generator sets, and ship control systems. The most sensitive part of the business is submarines.

Rolls-Royce designs, builds, and supports the nuclear reactors that power every submarine in the Royal Navy's fleet, from the PWR2 reactors in current Astute and Vanguard-class boats to the next-generation PWR3 being developed for the Dreadnought class and, under the AUKUS agreement, for Australia's future submarines as well. That work happens at a dedicated facility in Derby and represents one of only a small number of places on Earth capable of designing naval nuclear propulsion at this level. Rolls-Royce Defence also does newer work in autonomous systems and uncrewed platforms through its Advanced Technology group, and runs a services arm that keeps engines flying and reactors running over multi-decade service lives. Across the whole of Rolls-Royce Holdings, the company employs roughly 50,000 people and trades under the ticker RR. on the London Stock Exchange, with defense representing a substantial and growing share of group revenue as European rearmament accelerates.