Rolls-Royce sealed a potential $1 billion deal to supply Lockheed Martin with some 600 AE 2100 turboshaft engines to power all variants of the C-130J through 2025, the company announced on Wednesday. In addition, the agreement will service contractual requirements for US and international customers from 2014 through 2018, states the release. “This agreement is a very important step in providing our customers the most affordable airlifter in the world,” said George Shultz, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager of C-130 programs. “The C-130J Super Hercules has proven the ‘value of the power’ as the Rolls-Royce AE 2100 propulsion system allows the Super Hercules to perform any mission, anywhere, any time,” he added. “Lockheed Martin and Rolls-Royce have partnered for decades to produce thousands of the world’s leading medium transport aircraft,” said Tom Bell, president of Rolls-Royce defense business. He added, “Our new engine agreement secures that relationship for years to come . . . “
REFORPAC, the large-scale exercise in the Pacific planned for summer 2025, will be on a scale unseen by the Air Force in recent memory: nearly 300 aircraft spread across 25 locations.