Rolls-Royce’s UltraFan next-generation turbofan is still without an application. Despite the uncertainty, the engine-maker is pressing on with assembly of the first demonstrator this year as a pivotal step toward building trust in the technology and preparing for production variants when the time is ripe. “We need to get the engine ready for future opportunities and for whatever market dynamic evolves over the next 2-4 years,” says UltraFan Chief Engineer Andy Geer. The role of the demonstrator, which will be fully assembled by year-end, is to “get everybody’s confidence up so that when [a new potential application] does emerge— and it might emerge quickly with a desire for something different— then we’re ready to go,” he says.
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