Rolls-Royce Secures $167m US Navy Hovercraft Engine Deal

Rolls-Royce has won a $167 million contract to provide the engines for the U.S. Navy’s next-generation amphibious air-cushion landing craft.

As per a recent Pentagon press statement, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded Rolls-Royce Corp., Indianapolis, Indiana, a $167,383,203 fixed-priced contract for production of 40 MT7 turboshaft engines and related elements.

The deal also includes options which could bring the final contract value up to $167.7 million. The engines will propel the U.S. Navy’s Ship to Shore Connector (SSC) hovercraft, formally described as the Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC), 100 Class.

Designed as an evolution of its existing LCACs, the more powerful SSC will have a greater weight capacity to enable it to cope with the increasingly heavy equipment used by the United States Army and Marine Corps.

The SSCs will also feature a two-person fly-by-wire, joystick-control cockpit; the MT7 gas turbines being provided by Rolls-Royce for the SSCs are an evolution of the engine design used to power the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.

According to reports, the U.S. Navy is set to acquire a total of 73 SSCs from manufacturer Textron Systems at an estimated cost of just over $4 billion. They boast a 74-ton payload capacity and can travel at 35 knots when sea conditions allow.

Works forming part of the initial contract are scheduled to be completed by the middle of 2028; if the options are exercised, they could be extended until December 2028.

• You can read more details on the U.S. DoD website and the Textron Systems website