Rolls Royce: The Turkish Aerospace Industry is a Growing Force in the World Market
Defence Turkey: RR has an office in Istanbul since April 2012. Could you please inform us of your activities and strategy behind establishing a new office in Turkey?
Patrick Regis: Turkey’s stability, high economic growth and rapid social transformation have shaped its current stature as a regional economic and political power base. Rolls-Royce has been active in Turkey for many years. The decision to open a corporate office signals the need for greater local presence and coordination of all of our business activities including Aerospace, Defence, Marine, Energy and Nuclear. Rolls-Royce decision to invest resources means we intend to be in this market for a long time. Turkey has scale and its young and well-educated workforce and strong emphasis in Research and development aligns well with our ambitions as a global engineering company.
Defence Turkey: Could you please enlighten us about your core capabilities, products and expertise in Aerospace and Naval markets?
Patrick Regis: Rolls-Royce is a world-leading provider of power systems and services for use on land, at sea and in the air. It has established a strong position in four global markets - civil aerospace, defence aerospace, marine and energy. As a result of its diverse product portfolio and geographical reach, Rolls-Royce today has a broad customer base comprising more than 4,000 corporate and utility aircraft and helicopter operators, 160 armed forces, more than 2,000 marine customers, including 70 navies, with an installed base of 54,000 gas turbines.
Rolls-Royce is the world’s number two defence aero engine company with 160 customers in 103 countries. The company offers engines in all key defence market sectors - combat, transport, helicopters, trainers, patrol, maritime and reconnaissance. Rolls-Royce has services agreements in place with all branches of the US Military, including the Air Force, Marines, Army and Navy, plus the Coast Guard.
Rolls-Royce is a world leader in marine solutions, providing products, service and expertise to more than 30,000 vessels in the offshore, merchant, naval surface and submarine markets. Its product range includes propulsion systems featuring diesel engines and gas turbines, propellers, thrusters, water jets and the design of entire ships. Rolls-Royce also provides maneuvering and stabilising systems and deck machinery. Around 30 per cent of Marine turnover is derived from service support activity, with a global network of sales and service offices in 34 countries. Rolls-Royce equipment is in service with more than 70 navies.
Defence Turkey: RR has a history as supplier to Turkish Armed Forces, could you please inform us about your activities in Turkey performed over the years?
Paul Rogers: Rolls-Royce is proud to have powered the Turkish Armed Forces for many decades. In fact one the historic Spitfire been owned by the Turkish Air Force for nearly 70 years is Rolls-Royce powered! Today the operational Turkish armed forces fleet includes Rolls-Royce T56 powered C-130 aircraft, Tyne powered C160 and a number of M250 powered helicopters. The Turkish Police force also operates the M250 in its MD500 helicopters. To these fleets will soon be added the CTS800 powered T129 “Atak” helicopter and the A400M transport aircraft, powered by EPI’s TP400 engine, in which Rolls-Royce is a major partner. It is a strong priority for Rolls-Royce to ensure that an effective and sustainable support system is in place for each of these programmes and to continue to support the Turk as it continues its equipment modernisation programme.
Defence Turkey: As it is well known that Turkey has new indigenous programs focused on air platforms such as FX, TX and National Helicopter programs. Could you please inform us about your approach to these programs?
Paul Rogers: Rolls-Royce has a broad-based portfolio that offers power systems in every market sector. As a result we are able to offer power and propulsion solutions for Training and Combat aircraft projects and for l Helicopter programmes. It is clearly an exciting time for the Turkish aviation industry and we would wish to play our full part in the development of Turkey’s aerospace capabilities. We continue to discuss all national programmes with the relevant government and industrial bodies and to offer our full support during the study, development, production and support phases for each project.
Defence Turkey: Logistics Services became one of the priority targets of Turkey; RR offers a comprehensive suite of services to ensure its customers all enjoy the benefit of renewed engine life and enhanced performance for years to come. Therefore could be any cooperation considered in this field?
Paul Rogers: The sophisticated Service technologies and delivery systems that Rolls-Royce has developed are tailored to the requirements of our customers. In order to provide the most modern support to the large operational fleet of Rolls-Royce engines in Turkey the adoption of Mission Care support, currently successfully increasing availability and reducing cost of operation of many engine fleets in the US and UK, could be a very promising solution. To achieve this, a cooperative approach involving military operators and Turkish industry will be essential.
Defence Turkey: Turkey has been a strategic and promising market for global companies. What are your strategies and plans regarding cooperation, joint production and R&D activities in Turkey to strengthen collaboration with the Turkish Authorities and Defence Industry?
Paul Rogers: We have a good relationship with SSM in the Defence field with the intention of assuring that our industrial cooperation planning is aligned with Turkish national policy. Within this context we are working with Turkish industry to enhance our existing activities. Today Turkish industry is already a critical partner for the CTS800 engine that powers the A129 “Atak” helicopter and the new TP400 European advanced turbo shaft engine. This existing cooperation already covers design and development as well as production. Our aim is to grow our partnership focussed on Turkish national technology development in the fields of research, development, production and support.
Defence Turkey: Would you like to add something and give a message to our readers?
Paul Rogers: The Turkish aerospace industry is a growing force in the world market; this is based on firm national fundamentals including a commitment to forming strong long term partnerships with leading global companies. This approach matches perfectly with the Rolls-Royce strategy. We would like to build on our comprehensive range of activities in Turkey; participating in the modernisation of support to existing fleets, preparing for the entry into service of new equipment, working with our partners to ensure the efficient delivery of advanced production programs and participating in the development of future projects.
