Vickers Contract

Rolls-Royce PLC
13 March 2001







                                                                13 March, 2001



            VICKERS WINS £250 MILLION CONTRACT FOR ENGINEER TANKS

Vickers Defence Systems (VDS), part of Rolls-Royce plc, has signed a contract
with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for the supply of next-generation engineer
tanks for the British Army. The order, worth more than £250 million, was
confirmed during a visit to the VDS facility in Newcastle today (13 March) by
Baroness Symons, Minister for Defence Procurement.

Under the new contract, the company will provide 66 specialist engineer tanks
for use by the Royal Engineers. Two variants are to be supplied - Trojan, a
flexible obstacle and mine clearance vehicle, and Titan, a bridge-laying
vehicle. Designed to operate in areas of high-intensity combat, they will
allow the Royal Engineers to provide support to the British Army by helping
the progress of battle groups by clearing obstacles such as mines and bridging
natural and artificial gaps as wide as 26 metres.

Trojan and Titan will be based on chassis of the Challenger 2 main battle
tank. The resulting commonality of spare parts, maintenance and training will
reduce the cost of supporting the Army's overall fleet of armoured vehicles.

The order for the design, development and production of Trojan and Titan
follows a successful feasibility study completed by VDS last August. VDS beat
other competitors by combining its expertise in land systems integration with
decades of experience in meeting the exacting demands of the British Army.

Colin Clark, Chief Executive of VDS, said: 'This contract ensures we uphold
the proud tradition of Vickers as supplier of every British Army engineer tank
solution, stretching back 50 years. We will supply 33 of each of the Trojan
and Titan vehicles. All will be finally assembled and fitted out on Tyneside.
This helps to ensure continuity of workload both in our facilities in
Newcastle and also those of our suppliers.

'In working closely with the MoD, we've been able to ensure the Royal
Engineers will receive the best equipment at the lowest price and in the
shortest possible time. By working closely with the Defence Procurement
Agency, we have identified ways to reduce the duration of the programme by
more than a year. This offers clear benefits to the taxpayer as well as
ensuring work progresses into our facilities sooner.'



Notes to editors

 1. Vickers Defence Systems is part of the Rolls-Royce group of companies.
    Rolls-Royce plc is a global company providing power on land, sea and air.
    The company has established leading positions in civil aerospace, defence,
    marine and energy markets. Its core gas turbine technology has created one
    of the broadest product ranges of aero engines in the world, with 55,000
    engines in service in over 150 countries. Customers include more than 500
    airlines, 2,400 corporate and utility operators and 160 armed forces. In
    addition, 30 navies use Rolls-Royce propulsion. Energy markets include the
    oil and gas and power generation industries.
 2. A more detailed brief on the Trojan/Titan products and the activities of
    Vickers Defence Systems is included.
 3. Graphic images of Titan and Trojan are available on the Rolls-Royce website


    (www.rolls-royce.com/latestn/images/thumbnails06.htm)



For more information please contact:

Gary Atkins, Communications Manager, Rolls-Royce plc

Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]

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Home page address: www.rolls-royce.com