Rolls-Royce will open an engine depot services facility at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex at Tinker AFB, Okla., for overhaul of the company’s AE 3007H engines that power the Air Force’s Global Hawk aircraft, announced the company. Rolls-Royce expects the facility to commence operations in 2015, according to the company’s Oct. 2 release. The Air Force awarded the company $49 million to establish the facility, which will use an existing building at the complex and include new support equipment, tooling, work stations, assembly platforms, and modifications to an existing test cell. “In creating this facility, we will apply our innovative approach to services, delivering the latest advances in support, tooling, and design right to the heart of the customer’s operation,” said Paul Craig, president of Rolls-Royce’s defense services. The facility will be Rolls-Royce’s first at the complex and also the company’s first public-private partnership to provide engine services for the Air Force, according to the release.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.