You may have heard that Rolls-Royce is not just limited to cars, they also have expertise in making engines, aircraft, and even boats! In an interesting development, the British firm has expressed that it is keen to work on India’s fifth-generation fighter aircraft program called the AMCA (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft). Here, Rolls-Royce will co-develop and manufacture engines for the Indian fighter aircraft.
Official statement
Kishore Jayaraman, president of Rolls-Royce India and South Asia stated, “Rolls-Royce believes we can be an able partner to build an engine in India for AMCA. That is the area of the future. To co-create, co-develop and co-manufacture. It goes in line with the indigenous design and manufacturing initiative that India wants and the atmanirbhar way.” He also said that the joint efforts to manufacture the next set of engines for India’s future aircraft will help develop an aerospace ecosystem in the country. “Our keenness is on the co-creation concept. Because at the end of the day, when we co-create, we are generating IP and the IP is generated locally. When a product is designed in India, manufactured in India, you create your supply chain and you create a service concept. It creates a whole new ecosystem in the Indian aerospace sector,” said Jayaraman. He also added that the country will own the Intellectual Property (IP) rights for the engines if there is a partnership.
The future is Hybrid
Rolls-Royce is not only interested in powering aircraft but also the next generation of Navy vessels with its hybrid engines. Jayaram emphasizes the importance of hybrid for the future. “The future is going to be all about hybrid and all-electric. And to get into that world, Rolls-Royce is also looking at hybrid propulsion for very large carriers in the naval fleet, and we can do the needful by partnering with all relevant partners and bringing it to India,” he said. Rolls-Royce is very particular about the impact of diesel and gas-powered engines. A Rolls-Royce executive said that “(The future) is going to be about hybrid because it will yield efficiency in terms of power requirements and in terms of the environment. And Rolls-Royce is a firm believer that the environment matters. So we will bring hybrid propulsion. We are working very seriously on that.”