Rolls-Royce, ITP Propose Engine For Collaborative Combat Aircraft

As more countries turn to such platforms as collaborative combat aircraft and uncrewed adjuncts to build airpower mass and support their future crewed fighters, Rolls-Royce Germany and ITP Aero are proposing to adapt Rolls’ Pearl family of business jet engines to provide them with powerplant options.

The two companies announced a tie-up on June 5 at the ILA Berlin Air Show. Their collaboration aims to explore whether the Pearl’s Advance2 core can be used as an engine for military uncrewed systems weighing 8-10 metric tons.

Reusing the Advance2 core would make the proposed engine family more cost-competitive compared with developing a whole new engine, explains Rene Bernstein, vice president of defense business development and future programs at Rolls-Royce Germany.

“The core is the expensive part of the engine, where much of the investment is focused,” he says.

How the engine will be modified for such platforms will largely depend on airframer requirements, but the inlet and bypass ratios can be adapted, as can the engine nozzle.

“By reusing the core, we are using 90% of the existing technology, and this generates massive savings in terms of development,” Bernstein says.

The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding and plan to mature the engine concept in the next 18-24 months. A powerplant could be ready and certified for use on an uncrewed platform within six years, depending on the level of support from governments.

“This is potentially a good solution for the many opportunities to come in the market,” says Alvaro Santodomingo, executive director of ITP Aero’s defense business. The two companies say there is a sizable emerging market for a low-cost engine free of U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations restrictions. Collaborative combat aircraft developments in the U.S., such as Boeing’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat, are using derivatives of U.S.-made business jet engines.

Intended thrust classes for the proposed Advance2-based engines are not being disclosed, but they are said to be at the upper end of the Pearl’s thrust capability. The Pearl 10X planned for the Dassault Falcon 10X is expected to produce 18,000 lb. of thrust, for example.

Rolls-Royce does have other options for such systems. Its Orpheus engine, rapidly developed through the UK Future Combat Air System Technology Initiative, could also pave the way for a family of small engines to power cruise missiles and aircraft as large as jet trainers.