Kawasaki ships main part of Trent 1000 engine

Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced today that it has recently completed an intermediate pressure compressor (IPC) drum for the first Trent 1000 development engine to be assembled by Britain's Rolls-Royce plc. It was shipped to the parts service center at Rolls-Royce's Derby facility, where engine assembly will begin in early November.

Kawasaki has been participating in the development and production of the Trent as a risk-sharing partner, and is responsible for the production and assembly of the IPC module, and plays a leading role in the design and development of the IPC module in conjunction with Rolls-Royce.

The IPC drum is a core engine part, with eight titanium alloy discs welded together by electron beam. Test runs of the engine are scheduled for February 2006, with Kawasaki planning to begin shipments of IPC modules to be used for test flight aircraft in mid-2006.

The Trent 1000, the latest in a series of five, is a jet engine for passenger aircraft with 53,000-70,000 pounds of thrust. It will be installed on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, scheduled to be in operation in 2008. Rolls-Royce has already received orders for the engine from All Nippon Airways (ANA), Air New Zealand, Northwest Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines.