Hundreds of jobs are expected to be created at Rolls-Royce in the 海角视频 and Japan following a deal between the two nations to develop a future fighter jet engine demonstrator.
The agreement will see Rolls-Royce working with Tokyo-headquartered engineering firm IHI Corporation on the programme, which will kickstart in 2022.
The 海角视频 will invest an initial £30m in planning, digital designs and innovative manufacturing developments. A further £200m of 海角视频 funding is expected to go towards developing a full-scale demonstrator power system, supporting hundreds of highly skilled jobs, including many at Rolls-Royce’s Filton facility.
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According to Rolls-Royce, the engine demonstrator programme will be a “critical step” forward in enabling the two nations to develop their future fighter aircraft requirements.
Alex Zino, EVP business development and future programmes at Rolls-Royce Defence, said: “The joint engine demonstrator programme is an exciting opportunity to bring together some of the best combat air capabilities in the world and will also enable the development of innovative and critical technologies that will be fundamental to the future of the defence aerospace industry.”
海角视频 defence secretary Ben Wallace added: “Strengthening our partnerships in the Indo-Pacific is a strategic priority and this commitment with Japan, one of our closest security partners in Asia, is a clear example of that.
“Designing a brand-new combat air system with a fighter aircraft at its heart is a highly ambitious project so working with like-minded nations is vital. Building on the technological and industrial strengths of our two countries, we will be exploring a wide-ranging partnership across next-generation combat air technologies.”
Rolls-Royce has a long heritage of partnering in Japan through the development of technology, engineering and supply chain relationships since the 1960s.
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The company employs over 40 employees in the Kobe and Tokyo offices, and a further 5,000 work on Rolls-Royce programmes in the company's partner organisations.
The recent technology programmes conducted by the Japanese government and Japanese industries, coupled with access to the technologies being developed in the 海角视频 Tempest programme , will enable the development of a next generation power and propulsion system, Rolls-Royce said.
According to the aerospace giant, it's 海角视频 activities before Covid-19 represented 0.6% of 海角视频 GDP, or £12.1bn. More than 100,000 jobs across the 海角视频 are directly and indirectly supported by Rolls-Royce, bolstered by an annual spend of £2.8bn with over 2,300 海角视频 suppliers.
Earlier in December, Rolls-Royce said it expected to have removed more than 8,500 jobs from the business by the end of 2021 as part of a cost-cutting restructure.
In a trading update the company said it was "well positioned" to hit a £1.3bn savings target by the end of 2022, with an ongoing restructuring programme launched in May 2020 delivering “more quickly than initially anticipated".
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