WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Rolls-Royce has created a new engine controls capability near the campus of Purdue University to support its U.S. defense business, including the F130 engine competing for the U.S. Air Force B-52 program.
Rolls-Royce will assemble and test electronic engine controllers, which help manage in-flight engine operations. The first controller has been completed at Rolls-Royce in the Purdue Research Foundation’s Discovery Park District adjacent to the Purdue University campus in West Lafayette, Indiana, and will be installed onto a Rolls-Royce AE 3007H engine, manufactured at the company’s facilities in Indianapolis.
Purdue University is a designated Rolls-Royce University Technology Partnership that recognizes its collaborations on research, including advanced engine technology, materials and testing capability, and a Rolls-Royce investment at the university topping $18 million since 2015 and more than 600 Purdue graduates among the company’s workforce in Indianapolis. Rolls-Royce and Purdue also have collaborated on initiatives in cybersecurity and digital technology, as well as the new controls project.
Electronic engine controllers are responsible for control of complicated gas turbine engines, monitoring and adjusting multiple factors such as air and fuel flow. The high-tech controllers, which are about the size of a laptop computer, are safety-critical technical components that reduce pilot workload and enhance fuel efficiency. The very first engine equipped with the new controller will be delivered to Northrop Grumman for installation on a U.S. Navy Triton aircraft. Additionally, the new controllers will be installed on AE 3007 engines bound for the U.S. Air Force Global Hawk and the U.S. Navy MQ-25 Stingray aircraft.
The facility at Purdue also will assemble electronic controllers for Rolls-Royce F130 engines for the Air Force B-52 strategic bomber re-engining program, if the company wins the engine competition later this year. F130 engines also would be manufactured at the company’s Indianapolis facilities, and Rolls-Royce would add more than 150 new jobs in manufacturing, engineering, program management and other positions for the F130 program.
