JSF Work for Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce PLC
29 October 2001

                                               29 October 2001

JSF DEVELOPMENT WORK WORTH MORE THAN $1BN TO ROLLS-ROYCE

Rolls-Royce said that its development work for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF),
the world's largest fighter aircraft programme, will be worth more than $1
billion to the company, following the announcement on 26 October that Lockheed
Martin has been selected as the prime contractor.

Rolls-Royce sites in Bristol, UK and Indianapolis, US, will be the focal
points for the company's involvement in JSF development. Approximately 900
Rolls-Royce jobs, split between the US and the UK, will be sustained by JSF
during the development phase.

JSF is expected to generate orders for at least 3,000 aircraft from US and UK
customers, with an export potential of more than 2,000 additional aircraft.
The first production JSF aircraft is scheduled for delivery in 2008.

Colin Green, President - Defence Aerospace for Rolls-Royce, said: 'Our key
position as a truly transatlantic supplier to this transatlantic programme is
due to a number of factors.  These include investment in leading-edge
technology to anticipate customer requirements and providing that technology
in a timely, affordable manner.

'Combining the technology, expertise and facilities available at our
Indianapolis and Bristol sites with our proven delivery and programme
management capability, on both sides of the Atlantic, has cemented our
position on the programme.'

Rolls-Royce has worked closely with Lockheed Martin and F119 baseline engine
maker Pratt & Whitney during the Concept Demonstration phase of the JSF
programme.  Its role has been to provide key short take-off vertical landing
(STOVL) components, enabling the aircraft to take off and land in locations
with minimal or no runway space, making it a very versatile aircraft.

For Lockheed Martin's STOVL concept demonstrator aircraft, the X-35B,
Rolls-Royce supplies two major components that can provide vertical lift.  In
front of the engine, the LiftFanTM, designed only for vertical flight, is
driven by a shaft from the main engine.  Behind the engine, a swivelling
nozzle that provides horizontal thrust for conventional flight can also turn
through 90 degrees to redirect the engine's exhaust flow for vertical lift.

The LiftFanTM generates more power in its own right than the original version
of the Pegasus engine that powers the Harrier, which remains the world's only
operational STOVL aircraft, giving Rolls-Royce a unique insight and experience
in this highly-specialised technology.

The X-35B completed hover pit testing in March 2001, achieved its first
sustained hover on 24 June, five days later successfully undertook a vertical
take-off, hover and vertical landing, and on 16 July - after an earlier
airborne transition to the STOVL mode - made its first vertical landing from
conventional flight.

Rolls-Royce is also partnered with General Electric on the F120, an engine
option for JSF.  Rolls-Royce has a 40 per cent share in the F120, which is
entering a third phase of funded development that will encompass work on the
project through to 2005.  Rolls-Royce engineers in the US and UK are working
on this programme, for which the company's responsibility covers the
three-stage fan, the combustor, high-pressure nozzle guide vanes, the
low-pressure turbine and the gearbox.

Rolls-Royce began design work on the STOVL propulsion elements for the concept
demonstrator aircraft in 1996, and produced its first STOVL hardware in 1998.
The production of these key components has involved effective teamwork
between the company's design and manufacturing groups in Indianapolis, US, and
Bristol and several other UK sites.

For further information, please contact:

Tim Blythe
Director - Corporate Communications
Rolls-Royce plc
Tel: [phone]