Japan's first operational tests for Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines starts

Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced today that it has started testing of the Trent 1000, Rolls-Royce Plc.'s state-of-the-art passenger plane engine, at its Akashi Works. The Trent 1000 will be installed on Boeing's new commercial airplane, the 787 Dreamliner.

Kawasaki is now conducting maturity tests for the Trent 1000. These tests constitute an important part of the engine's development program, ensuring the engine's performance and durability through several thousand hours of operational tests before the engine is used in commercial aircraft services. The engine used for these tests was assembled by Rolls-Royce and delivered to Kawasaki at the end of June. This unit is the first Trent 1000 to be tested in Japan. The tests are scheduled to run until late November.

Kawasaki has been participating in the development and production of the Trent 1000 as a risk and revenue sharing partner. It is responsible for the design, production and assembly of the intermediate pressure compressor (IPC) module as well as conducting some of the operational tests. Kawasaki began shipping IPC drums and other components in October 2005 and started shipping complete modules in August 2006.

The Trent is Rolls-Royce's core line of commercial aircraft engines currently available in four different models. Approximately 1,700 units in the Trent series have been ordered. The Trent 1000, the latest in the jet engine series, is a 53,000 to 75,000 pound thrust engine designed for passenger aircraft. Rolls-Royce received a type certificate for the Trent 1000 in 2007. It will be installed on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, scheduled to enter service in 2009. Rolls-Royce has received orders for the engine from airlines around the world.