LONDON – This week, Rolls-Royce officially broke ground on a new facility in Le Haillan near Bordeaux, France. The site will play an important role in the production support of the Rolls-Royce Pearl 10X engine, which exclusively powers Dassault’s brand-new Falcon 10X flagship aircraft.
Construction of the new 2,000 sqm production support centre, which will house offices, a workshop and a warehouse, begins later this year and will be finished in the first half of 2023.
Artist’s concept of new Bordeaux facility. Image Credit: Rolls Royce
The facility will become part of the global Rolls-Royce support network and will be complemented by the powerful customer service infrastructure of more than 75 Authorised Service Centres.
This network includes On-Wing Services specialists in the USA, Europe, Middle East and Asia as well as a number of spare parts, lease engine and storage locations, all placed strategically around the world.
Dr Philipp Zeller, Senior Vice President for Dassault, Rolls-Royce, said: “While the Pearl 10X engine development programme for the Dassault Falcon 10X is making good progress, we are already working in parallel on establishing the infrastructure to support Dassault’s flight test activities and its production line.”
“This new facility will further strengthen our partnership with Dassault and it will ensure the delivery of the class-leading customer support already associate with the name Rolls‑Royce.”
The Pearl 10X engine
Compared to the last generation of Rolls-Royce business aviation engines, the Pearl 10X offers a 5% higher efficiency, while delivering outstanding low noise and emissions performance. The result is an engine that offers a market-leading combination of power and efficiency.
This combination will enable customers and operators to have premium airport accessibility and fly ultra-long-range connections whilst also being able to travel nearly as fast as the speed of sound.
Photos: Pearl 10X engine testing Photo Credits: Rolls Royce
Rolls-Royce and ‘future proofing’ business
After the devastating fallout effects of the global pandemic, Rolls Royce set about a goal of ‘future proofing’ its business activity in order to prevent another similar catastrophe.
The company has previously stated that it is company was focused on long-term business opportunities, particularly as the world transitions to more sustainable energy.
As part of this strategic focus, Rolls-Royce is perhaps looking toward addressing customers who are generally looking for more fuel-efficient engines and more environmentally friendly power solutions.
To this end, the manufacturing giant is also set to invest £80 million in the British Midlands over the next nine years, developing energy storage systems (ESS) for electric aircraft, as the company positions itself to pioneer sustainable aviation power.
This week’s announcement of the new Bordeaux facility to support the Pearl 10X engine follows hot on the heels of Rolls-Royce’s announcement of its investment in a partnership with China Airlines to develop an MRO for its Trent engines in Beijing, China.
