Under the purchase contract, Rolls-Royce will produce 28 engines for the MV-22 and CV-22 versions of the aircraft in 2006-07. The engines are manufactured in Indianapolis, IN.

The services contract includes a new option year for a Power By The Hour# contract for maintenance support this year for the gas-turbine engines. Most of the work will be performed at Marine Corps Air Station New River in North Carolina, with additional work at Indianapolis and Amarillo, Texas.

The V-22 tiltrotor aircraft, known as the Osprey, takes off like a helicopter and flies like an airplane. Powered by twin Rolls-Royce AE 1107C Liberty engines, V-22s fly at twice the speed, with three times the payload and up to five times the range, of conventional helicopters. The U.S. government approved full rate production for the aircraft in September 2005.

Dennis Jarvi, President Defense North America for Rolls-Royce, said: "Our defense customers know Rolls-Royce as a reliable provider of quality engines and services. We stand behind our engines through creative and individualized performance-based logistics concepts designed to meet our customers' needs."

Notes

1. The AE 1107C engine is part of the "common core" AE engine line produced by Rolls-Royce, and provides more than 6,000 shaft horsepower. The reliable and proven AE engine line has accumulated more than 21 million flight hours.

2. The contracts are administered by Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD.

3. Rolls-Royce operates in four global markets - civil aerospace, defense aerospace, marine and energy. It is investing in technologies and capabilities that can be exploited in each of these sectors to create a competitive range of products.

4. Rolls-Royce has a broad customer base comprising more than 500 airlines, 4,000 corporate and utility aircraft and helicopter operators, 160 armed forces and more than 2,000 marine customers, including 50 navies. The company has energy customers in nearly 120 countries. Rolls-Royce employs around 35,000 people, including 8,000 in North America.

Related Links
Defense North America for Rolls-Royce