Rolls-Royce selected by U.S. military for advanced technology development program

INDIANAPOLIS, 26 Sept. 2007. Rolls-Royce has been selected for the HEETE (Highly Efficient Embedded Turbine Engine) advanced technology program to design next-generation propulsion systems for the U.S. Air Force. The work will be carried out by the company's LibertyWorks research unit in Indianapolis, Ind.

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) awarded the program to Rolls-Royce in a contract valued at $19.6 million.

HEETE is a technology-development program that pursues high-temperature, high-pressure ratio compressor technologies and related thermal-management features. The goal is to define the next-generation engine architecture for subsonic missions, such as ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance), Subsonic Strike, transports, and carrier-based unmanned aerial vehicles.