Aero Engine Controls is the former name of

Rolls-Royce Controls and Data Services Rolls-Royce Controls and Data Services Limited provides safety critical controls and asset intelligence solutions for industrial power, marine, civil and military aerospace. It produces engine control software, electronic engine controls (EEC), ...

. The company produces engine control software, electronic engine controls (EEC), fuel metering units (FMU), fuel pumps and engine actuators for a large number of common commercial and military aircraft. Together these parts comprise the control system for a jet engine, responsible for delivering the correct amount of fuel and maintaining engine safety.

History

The company was originally part of

Lucas Industries Lucas Industries plc was a Birmingham-based British manufacturer of motor industry and aerospace industry components. Once prominent, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was formerly a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In August 1996 ...

, responsible for producing fuel systems for aircraft. From 1938 the company produced fueling systems for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

aircraft. In August 1996 the company was merged, along with the rest of Lucas Industries, with the North American Varity Corporation to form LucasVarity. In 1999 LucasVarity was acquired by TRW for $6.6bn, which sold the Lucas Aerospace section of the company to Goodrich Corporation for $1.5bn in 2002. In 2008 Rolls-Royce was the second largest producer of aircraft engines worldwide behind

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

and ahead of Pratt & Whitney. As the focus for engine efficiency shifts towards sophisticated engine control techniques, Rolls-Royce found it could potentially fall behind its competitors as the only one of the three companies to outsource these key components. Rolls-Royce and the Goodrich Corporation saw an opportunity for partnership, combining the existing manufacturing capability of Goodrich with the expertise of Rolls-Royce. The Rolls-Royce Goodrich engine controls joint venture was announced on 14 August 2008 and agreement between the two companies was made on 22 December 2008 to form 'Rolls-Royce Goodrich Engine Control Systems Limited' with the trading company name of Aero Engine Controls. In the formation of Aero Engine Controls both companies contributed over £14m in assets and cash to the joint venture, with Rolls-Royce making a cash payment to the Goodrich Corporation of $100m. Following the acquisition of Goodrich by

United Technologies Corporation United Technologies Corporation (UTC) was an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut. It researched, developed, and manufactured products in numerous areas, including aircraft engines, aerospace systems ...

in July 2012, Rolls-Royce announced it would purchase Goodrich's 50% share of Aero Engine Controls. The purchase was completed on 10 December 2012 and Aero Engine Controls is now wholly owned by Rolls-Royce Plc. and is part of the Rolls-Royce Group. In 2014 Aero Engine Controls was merged with Optimized Systems and Solutions (OSyS) to form Rolls-Royce Control and Data Services.

Locations

* Birmingham, UK *:Aero Engine Controls has one combined manufacturing and engineering site in Birmingham, and employs ~1100 employees. * Derby, UK *:This is a systems and software engineering site and employs ~300 engineers. * Belfast, UK *:This is a software engineering centre. * Indianapolis, USA *:Although the Indianapolis branch is part of Aero Engine Controls the company, it is a separate legal entity with its own board of directors. This allows Aero Engine Controls to participate in large classified US defence contracts, which it would otherwise be unable to do for reasons of national security. *:The Indianapolis branch is expanding rapidly and is able to work alongside the existing Rolls-Royce manufacturing plant in the city. Due to rapid growth and demand for engineering expertise, between 2011 and 2013 Aero Engine Controls plans to add up to 159 engineering jobs to the current 89, and plans to "add an assembly and test organisation in Indianapolis in the next few years".

Project Involvement

Aero Engine Controls provides products to some of the world's most advanced and efficient engines, both for civil and military application. Notable aircraft for which Aero Engine Controls has provided its key components include but are not exclusive to:

Large Civil

Boeing 787 Dreamliner The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...

Boeing 777 The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet. The 777 was designed to bridge the gap betw ...

:* Boeing 747 :* Boeing 767 :*

Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...

Airbus A330 The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner in the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A340 ...

Airbus A350 The Airbus A350 is a long-range, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner developed and produced by Airbus. The first A350 design proposed by Airbus in 2004, in response to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, would have been a development of the A330 ...

Regionals

Embraer ERJ 145 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenger ...

Corporates (Businessjets)

:* Gulfstream G650 :*Gulfstream G350 and G550 :*Bombardier Global Express

Helicopters

:* Sea-King :*

NH90 The NHIndustries NH90 is a medium-sized, twin-engine, multi-role military helicopter. It was developed in response to NATO requirements for a battlefield helicopter which would also be capable of being operated in naval environments. The NH90 ...

:* EH101 Merlin

Defence

Aero Engine Controls provides main and

afterburner An afterburner (or reheat in British English) is an additional combustion component used on some jet engines, mostly those on military supersonic aircraft. Its purpose is to increase thrust, usually for supersonic flight, takeoff, and co ...

systems and centrifugal pumping systems for most modern military jet engines including: :*

Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo ...

:* V22-Osprey :*

Boeing T-45 Goshawk The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) T-45 Goshawk is a highly modified version of the British BAE Systems Hawk land-based training jet aircraft. Manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) and British Aerospace (now BAE Systems), the T-45 i ...

:* BAE Systems Hawk :* Northrop Grumman Global Hawk :*

Lockheed Martin C-130J The Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. The C-130J is a comprehensive update of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, with new engines, Cockpit, flight deck, and other systems. The C-130J is the ...

References

{{Reflist Aircraft component manufacturers of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies based in Birmingham, West Midlands Rolls-Royce Science and technology in the West Midlands (county)