February 01, 2013: While Aero India 2011 was tinged with turmoil for Rolls-Royce—it had decided shortly after the show to withdraw from a competition to re-engine the IAF's Jaguar strike aircraft—it is back at Aero India 2013 with a strong focus on the CTS800 turboshaft engine that Rolls-Royce builds in partnership with Honeywell. The CTS800 squares off against the Turbomeca Ardiden 1H1/Shakti engine that currently powers the ALH Dhruv and Light Combat Helicopter prototypes.

In a statement, Rolls-Royce said the engine has passed 100,000 in-service flight hours and demonstrated proven technology and reliable performance in a variety of demanding operational environments.

Kishore Jayaraman, President, Rolls-Royce India, said: “Aero India is a significant platform for us in the continuing development of our business. India is an important market for Rolls-Royce with a number of significant local partners. We look forward to accelerating our business development and partnership initiatives as we work to further contribute to India’s defence modernization goals.” John Gay, Senior Vice-President — Defence Aerospace, South Asia, Rolls-Royce, said: “It is a pleasure for us to be a part of Aero India, which gives us a platform to showcase our technology and products and has been an enabler for exchange of innovative ideas. Rolls-Royce is proud to have powered the Indian armed forces for 80 years. As our in-service fleets continue to increase we are looking to strengthen our local partnerships to deliver greater levels of support to the benefit of the customers here.” The company will also show-case iPad-based services technology and the Adour Mk871 engine that powers the Hawk advanced jet trainer.