Lasting Legacies, Promising Future
As the 88th Indian Air Force Day is celebrated on 8 October 2020, Rolls-Royce salutes its magnificent history and spirit of the ‘Guardians of Indian Skies’. This day is also a reminder of our legacy partnership with India that spans over eight decades, which started with the IAF’s Westland Wapiti powered by our Bristol Jupiter engines. Since then, Rolls-Royce has been an intrinsic part of the Indian defence tapestry, building on the relationship with strong threads that will hold far into the future.
Partners in Progress
Rolls-Royce’s 60-year-old partnership with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) started with licensed production of the Orpheus engine, and is one of the longest in the history of aerospace in India. With the Rolls-Royce in India Lasting Legacies, Promising Future Adour Mk871 and Adour Mk804/811, also made in India by HAL with Rolls-Royce support, our journey is the original ‘Make in India’ story. Rolls-Royce engines power various aircraft of the Indian defence forces including transport, trainer and combat aircraft and helicopters. The Jaguar has flown with the Rolls-Royce Adour Mk811 since 1981, while Adour Mk871-powered Hawk advanced jet trainers have been in service since 2008. Over the years, we have also been working steadily for the development and transformation of India’s indigenous aerospace industry. We have also invested in building supply chain capabilities and forged successful partnerships with private sector players like Bharat Forge, Godrej & Boyce, Force Motors, the Tata Group, as well as various MSMEs and start-ups.
Engineering Excellence
Today, more than 750 Rolls-Royce engines of ten engine types are powering aircraft of the Indian military. Our engines power a wide variety of aircraft in inventory of the Indian Air Force, from combat and strike aircraft (the Jaguar, powered by the Adour Mk811) to trainers (Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer, powered by Adour Mk871) to strategic airlift aircraft (C-130J Hercules, powered by AE2100) as also VVIP and Surveillance aircraft (ERJ145, powered by AE3007). We provide the highest possible levels of support to defence forces for the engines in service. Our field service representatives work closely with Armed Forces personnel to maximise the availability of engines on wing and provide on-ground technical advice directly to our defence customers, thereby drastically reducing maintenance and overhaul times.
Our Defence Service Delivery Centre (SDC) in Bengaluru is the only one in Asia specifically supporting the Indian Armed Forces and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. Its principal role is to improve our responsiveness to the forces, and to enable further optimisation of engine availability. Over the years, we have played a vital role in supporting growth of the Indian Defence and Aerospace industry with our portfolio of products and services and the right combination of experience and advanced technologies. With the help of our engineering talent in India, we are working towards establishing a robust ecosystem that will engage in co-creation across the entire value-chain – from research, design and development to manufacturing, integration, maintenance and repair. This will further enable the vision of ‘Make in India’, to make for India and for the world.
Future ready!
With more than 16,000 military engines in service with 160 customers in 103 countries, Rolls-Royce is globally a powerful player in the defence aero engine market. From combat to transport, from trainers to helicopters, our engines and pioneering service solutions ensure that our customers have world-leading engine technology available, whatever the mission demands. We believe the future will be all about ‘Creating in India’ in collaboration with willing global players, with India co-owning the Intellectual Property (IP) in areas of strategic importance. As the world prepares to rise beyond impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the manufacturing sector in India also has an opportunity to become a strong lever for economic growth and self-reliance. Looking at the future, we are happy that both the UK and India are willing to explore opportunities to collaborate with significant technological and talent capabilities on both sides. There is a great opportunity to co-create and co-manufacture customised solutions for India’s future defence needs and support India’s vision for self-reliance. India has the talent, potential, ingenuity and digital ecosystem to recast the framework of defence manufacturing and build an Atmanirbhar Bharat.
Kishore Jayaraman, President, Rolls-Royce India and South Asia