Contract to supply Trent 900 engine monitoring unit

Citation

(2002), "Contract to supply Trent 900 engine monitoring unit", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 74 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2002.12774fab.038

Contract to supply Trent 900 engine monitoring unit

Contract to supply Trent 900 engine monitoring unit

Keywords: Meggitt PLC, Engines, Aircraft

Meggitt PLC recently announced that its Vibro-Meter subsidiary has been awarded a contract from Rolls-Royce covering the development and supply of an engine monitoring unit (EMU) for the Trent 900 engine on the Airbus A380 airframe. The new unit which is expected to lead to revenues of at least USD I00 M over the next 10 years will utilise a flexible design requiring the minimum of reconfiguration for fitment to new engines as well as possible retrofit to existing installations. The scope of application is intended to also extend to cover gas turbine engines in industrial and marine sectors of Rolls-Royce business.

This is believed to be the first time that a sophisticated gas-turbine monitoring system will be engine-mounted and designed to operate with any engine from the manufacturer’s range.

The unit will collect and process various engine parameters including vibration signals, rotational speeds, pressures, temperatures and oil debris information, linking with data from the Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) system to provide a detailed image of engine condition. Once proven on the Trent 900, the EMU may be configured for other engines.

The new system’s basic functionality will be demonstrated early in 2003. Enhanced versions will be extensively tested from May 2003 to mid-2004 on a demonstration Airbus aircraft equipped with a Trent 900 engine.

It is also reported that Meggitt Defence Systems, part of the Meggitt PLC Group, has won its first customer for its all new high speed, free flying target, Voodoo, from AIDC of Taiwan. Taiwan will order an initial six targets, plus supporting ground support equipment and the first will be delivered at the end of this year, for service entry in early 2003.

The order followed Voodoo’s showing at the Asian Aerospace in Singapore earlier this year, confirmed Terry Timms, managing director of Meggitt Defence Systems, noting that the Far East is a particularly strong market for targets.

Voodoo, said to be capable of flying up to 350 knots at altitudes from 15 ft above sea level to 22,000 ft, builds on the success of the popular Banshee, which is now in service in 40 countries. Voodoo is launched by a catapult launcher and is capable of being controlled by existing Banshee ground stations. All payloads, enhancements and counter measure systems fitted to Banshee are interchangeable with Voodoo, which is also especially suited to towing sub targets.