Turbo-Union

When it was formed in October 1969 it was claimed to be the largest aero-engine consortium in the world. The RB199 would be Europe's biggest ever military engine programme, and was based in Munchen.

Development of the RB199 started in September 1969, prior to the formation of Turbo-Union.

The first RB199 engine ran in September 1971, with the first flight in a Tornado in August 1974. The engines are all electronically controlled with slightly different engine versions for each Tornado variant.

In 1983, a Swiss organisation, the Arbeitsgruppe für Luft und Raumfahrt (ALR) based in Zurich, proposed an aircraft called the Piranha 6 powered by a single RB199.

The first prototype Eurofighter planes used the RB199 engine, until in June 1995 when the first EJ200-engined plane took off from Turin. Its predecessor, the British Aerospace EAP, also used the engines.

Management

The first chairman was Hugh Conway, the managing director of the Bristol (Filton) plant of Rolls-Royce. Marshal of the Royal Air Force Denis Spotswood was chairman from 1975 to 1980.

For many years, the designer of the Pegasus engine, Gordon Lewis, was managing director. Previous to him was Martin Steinberger of Motoren und Turbinen-Union (MTU - based in Munich). Karlheinz Koch was MD until 2008.

The current managing director is Markus Becker (since July 2023).

Products

The company's only product was the RB199, a three-spool turbofan developed specifically for the Panavia Tornado.

Production sites

Turbo Union as a whole designed and produced the engine, albeit the GA (General Arrangement) drawing was assembled at Bristol (Filton) from all three partners' inputs. Over 2000 engines were built up to and including the 1990s, from components sourced in all three countries in approximate proportion to their Governmental support. The RAF had engines assembled and supported from Bristol, the German Air Force and Navy from Munchen, and the Italian Air Force from Torino.