Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Limited (RRTM) is a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

aero-engine manufacturer

Rolls-Royce plc Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for ...

(UK) and

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

helicopter engine specialist

Safran Helicopter Engines Safran Helicopter Engines, previously known as Turbomeca, is a French manufacturer of low- and medium-power gas turbine turboshaft engines for helicopters. The company also produces gas turbine engines for aircraft and missiles, as well as turbi ...

(formerly known as Turbomeca). It manufactured aero-engines and provided associated support services to end users. The joint venture has been responsible for the development and production of two aero-engines, the

Adour The Adour (; ; ) is a river in southwestern France. It rises in High- Bigorre ( Pyrenees), in the commune of Aspin-Aure, and flows into the Atlantic Ocean ( Bay of Biscay) near Bayonne. It is long, of which the uppermost ca. is known as the ' ...

turbofan A turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a combination of references to the preceding generation engine technology of the turbojet and the add ...

, and the RTM322

turboshaft A turboshaft engine is a form of gas turbine that is optimized to produce shaft horsepower rather than jet thrust. In concept, turboshaft engines are very similar to turbojets, with additional turbine expansion to extract heat energy from the ex ...

powerplant. During 2013, Turbomeca bought out Rolls-Royce's involvement in the RTM322 programme; accordingly, all manufacturing-related responsibility activities with this engine were transferred to Turbomeca solely during the mid-2010s.

History

During the definition phase of what became the

SEPECAT Jaguar The SEPECAT Jaguar is a British-French supersonic jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. As of 2025, the Jaguar remains in service with the ...

ground attack aircraft, a separate partnership was formed between

aero-engine manufacturer

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

and

helicopter engine specialist Turbomeca to develop the

, an

afterburning An afterburner (or reheat in British English) is an additional combustion component used on some jet engines, mostly those on military aircraft, military supersonic aircraft. Its purpose is to increase thrust, usually for supersonic flight, ta ...

engine, to power the aircraft.Taylor 1980, pp. 105, 708. This engine would not only be adopted for the Jaguar, but also for aircraft such as the

BAE Systems Hawk The BAE Systems Hawk is a British single-engine, subsonic, jet-powered advanced trainer aircraft. Its aluminum alloy fuselage is of conventional string-frame construction. It was first known as the Hawker Siddeley Hawk, and subsequently produc ...

, the

McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) T-45 Goshawk is a highly modified version of the British BAE Systems Hawk land-based training jet aircraft. Manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) and British Aerospace (now BAE Systems), the T-45 is u ...

, and

Mitsubishi T-2 The Mitsubishi T-2 was a supersonic jet trainer aircraft used by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. Introduced in 1975, it was the first Japanese-designed aircraft to break the sound barrier. It was the basis of the Mitsubishi F-1 strike fighter ...

trainer aircraft, as well as the

Mitsubishi F-1 The Mitsubishi F-1 is a Japanese swept-wing, single-seat, twin-engine supersonic strike aircraft that was in service with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) from 1978 to 2006. It was Japan's first domestically designed and built supersonic ...

ground attack fighter. In excess of 2,800 Adour engines would eventually be produced, reportedly amassing a cumulative total of 7,000,000 flying hours. During 1995, it was announced that the

Rolls-Royce Turbomeca RTM322 The Rolls-Royce Turbomeca RTM322 is a turboshaft engine currently produced by Safran Helicopter Engines. The RTM322 was originally conceived and manufactured by Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Limited, a joint venture between Rolls-Royce and Turbom ...

engine had been selected to power the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

's fleet of

AgustaWestland Apache The AgustaWestland Apache is a licence-built version of the Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter for the British Army Air Corps. The first eight helicopters were built by Boeing; the remaining 59 were assembled by Westland Helico ...

attack helicopter An attack helicopter is an armed helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the offensive (military), offensive capability of engaging ground targets such as enemy infantry, military vehicles and fortifications. Due to their ...

s; accordingly, the RTM322 took the place of the standard

General Electric T700 The General Electric T700 and CT7 are a family of turboshaft and turboprop engines in the class. Design and development In 1967, General Electric began work on a new turboshaft engine demonstrator designated the "GE12" in response to US Army i ...

engine that powered all previous versions of the Apache. At the time, there were hopes that other Apache operators could opt to procure the engine over the T700 as well. The initial version of the RM322 was qualified for use by the British

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

during 2003. Over the following decades, the RTM322 engine was adopted by various operators to power a number of rotorcraft, including the

NHIndustries NH90 The NHIndustries NH90 is a European medium-sized, twin-engine, multirole military helicopter. It was the first production helicopter to feature entirely fly-by-wire flight controls.Perry, Dominic"Rotor club: Our top 10 most influential helicop ...

and

AgustaWestland AW101 The AgustaWestland AW101 is a medium-lift helicopter in military and civil use. First flown in 1987, it was developed by a joint venture between Westland Helicopters in the United Kingdom and Agusta in Italy in response to national requiremen ...

medium-sized transport helicopters, as well as being used on the UK's Apache helicopter fleet, and the

Eurocopter X³ The Eurocopter X³ ''(X-Cubed)'' is a retired experimental high-speed compound helicopter developed by Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter). A technology demonstration platform for "high-speed, long-range hybrid helicopter" or H³ concept, ...

, a high speed technology demonstrator. During 2003, it was announced that the joint venture was undertaking the development of an enhanced version of the RTM322, taking the powerplant from the current 2,400shp (1,800 kW) power range to beyond 2,500shp in the near term and potentially 3,300shp in the longer term after further improvements are finalised. Keith Reid, Rolls-Royce Turbomeca international marketing manager, noted that the RM322 had been originally designed with future growth in mind, and that operators had been placing an increasing emphasis upon hot and high flight capabilities, which necessitated more engine power is being available. During 2013, responsibility for undertaking all activities related to the RTM322 engine, including manufacturing and maintenance/services, began to be transferred to Turbomeca following an agreement between Rolls-Royce and Turbomeca to buy out the former in exchange for around €293 million ($381 million). Over the following three years, Turbomeca progressively took on this work, the first 12 months were generally dedicated to taking on RM322 maintenance and repair activities, the following 12 months were spent on building up its testing capabilities, while the remainder were involved the realign of the engine's supply chain with the French firm and internalise any manufacturing activities previously performed by Rolls-Royce.

Products

Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour The Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour is a two-shaft low bypass turbofan aircraft engine developed by Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Limited, a joint venture between Rolls-Royce (UK) and Turbomeca (France). The engine is named after the Adour, a river in s ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Gunston, Bill. ''World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines''. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. . * Taylor, John W. R. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1980–81''. London: Jane's Publishing Company, 1980. .

External links

Jane's AERO-ENGINES - MANUFACTURER preview
{{Turbomeca aeroengines Multinational aircraft engine manufacturers France–United Kingdom military relations Rolls-Royce Holdings Turboshaft engine manufacturers