Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LSE:RR.) is reportedly willing to develop an entirely new fighter jet engine for India, as it looks to stave off competition and boost ties with the country.
Rolls has proposed to co-develop a new engine which would not be based on the existing Eurojet EJ200, according to reports, which powers the Eurofighter Typhoon.
The new deal would allow India all intellectual property rights of the new engine, which it could use in its Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft project as it aims to build a fifth generation fighter.
Competitors Avio, Industria de Turbo Propulsores, and MTU Aero Engines, which collectively develop the EJ200 alongside Rolls, would also be cut out through the deal.
“Rolls-Royce is keen to partner India for combat engine development with a co-creation model that ensures intellectual property for this critical technology is created and owned in India,” Rolls Royce India president Kishore Jayaraman said last week.
“India could position itself as a strong supplier to the global market and raise its competitiveness in the international arena.
“Such a model will not only allow future upgrades and exports, but also enable indigenous new engine development in future.”
It comes after member organisation the UK-India Business Council highlighted several plans by British defence companies to build new partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region.
"We have got a group of 22 British defence companies, with collective revenues of about US$60bn, really focused on doing business with and in India," the group’s boss Richard McCallum explained last Thursday.
11 of these, including BAE Systems PLC (LSE:BA.) already have operations in the country, he added, with many more tempted by ongoing negotiations for a free trade deal between the UK and India.