Rolls-Royce on Thursday was awarded a $100 million contract to develop new advanced turbine engine technologies for the Air Force.

The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract is for phase 1 of the service’s Advanced Turbine Technologies for Affordable Mission-Capability (ATTAM) program. Awardees will “develop, demonstrate, and transition advanced turbine propulsion, power and thermal technologies that provides improvement in affordable mission capability,” according to the Air Force’s contract statement.The program could help the service determine key propulsion, fuel efficiency and other engine criteria for future military jet aircraft.

Hill Air Force Base F-35As fly in formation over the Utah Test and Training Range, March 30, 2017. (U.S. Air Force photo/R. Nial Bradshaw)
Hill Air Force Base F-35As fly in formation over the Utah Test and Training Range, March 30, 2017. (U.S. Air Force photo/R. Nial Bradshaw)

Rolls-Royce’s work will be performed in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is expected to be completed by October 2026. The first task order is incrementally funded with $17,000 in  fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation funds  at time of award.  

This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and 54 offers were received. In late September, United Technologies Corp.’s [UTX] Pratt & Whitney received an IDIQ award worth $250 million for the ATTAM program. The company’s work will take place in East Hartford, Connecticut, and is also expected to wrap up within the same timeline. Its first task order received $25,000 in FY ’18 RDT&E funds at the time of award. Aerojet Rocketdyne [AJRD] also received a $20 million IDIQ award for the ATTAM program, according to an Oct. 3 announcement on FedBizOpps.

The Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity for ATTAM.