# Turbo-Union

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{{Short description|Joint venture of three European aero-engine manufacturers}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Infobox company
| name   = Turbo-Union Ltd
| logo   = 
| type   = Joint venture, limited company
| foundation     = {{start date and age|df=yes|1969|10|14}}
| founder        = 
| location       = Moor Lane, [Derby](/source/Derby)
| key_people     = 
| area_served    = UK, Italy, Germany
| industry       = Gas turbine engines
| products       = [RB199](/source/Turbo-Union_RB199)
| revenue        = 
| operating_income = 
| net_income     = 
| assets         = 
| equity         = 
| num_employees  = 
| parent         = [Rolls-Royce Holdings](/source/Rolls-Royce_Holdings) (40%)<br>[MTU Aero Engines](/source/MTU_Aero_Engines) (40%)<br>[Avio](/source/Avio) (20%)
| homepage       = {{URL|turbounion.co.uk}}
| footnotes      = 
}}

'''Turbo-Union Limited''' was a joint venture of three European [aero-engine](/source/Aircraft_engine) manufacturers, [FiatAvio](/source/Avio) (now Avio), [MTU Aero Engines](/source/MTU_Aero_Engines) and [Rolls-Royce](/source/Rolls-Royce_plc).

==Products==
The company's only product was the [RB199](/source/Turbo-Union_RB199), a three-spool [turbofan](/source/turbofan) developed specifically for the [Panavia Tornado](/source/Panavia_Tornado).<ref>{{cite web|title=Turbounion|url=http://www.turbounion.co.uk/|publisher=Turbounion|access-date=1 January 2016}}</ref>

==Structure==
The ownership of the company similarly split into-
* 40% [Rolls-Royce](/source/Rolls-Royce_plc)
* 40% [MTU Aero Engines](/source/MTU_Aero_Engines)
* 20% [Avio](/source/Avio) [S.p.A.](/source/Societ%C3%A0_per_Azioni) (formerly [Fiat Aviazione](/source/Fiat_Aviazione))<ref>{{cite book|last1=Skinner|first1=Stephen|title=British Aircraft Corporation: A History|date=2012|publisher=Crowood|isbn=9781847974501|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hQY9BAAAQBAJ&q=Turbo-Union+1969&pg=PT524|access-date=1 January 2016}}</ref>

It had an office on ''Arabellastraße'' in Munich near both [NAMMA](/source/NATO_Eurofighter_and_Tornado_Management_Agency) and [Panavia](/source/Panavia_Aircraft_GmbH), but the head office was initially at [Filton](/source/Filton). It was known as Turbo-Union Ltd. Turbo-Union was a fully integrated and collaborative European Company, whose formal language was English, by kind and charitable agreement of the Governments concerned. The organisation of the company was of FG (Functional Group) kind - for example, FG4 was Concept Design Engineering, FG6 was Customer Support Engineering and Provisioning, and so on. Each FG was chaired by a European person included people from all three companies as required. The FG also had subgroups - for example, FG4-4 was Development, FG6-2 was FTC (Flight Test Centre) support.

The company was now based at the home of Rolls-Royce in Derby,<ref>{{cite web|title=Turbo-Union Limited|url=https://www.duedil.com/company/00962980/turbo-union-limited|publisher=DueDil|access-date=1 January 2016}}</ref> but also had an office at the [Panavia](/source/Panavia_Aircraft_GmbH) head office in Germany at [Hallbergmoos](/source/Hallbergmoos).

==Production sites==
Turbo Union as a whole designed and produced the engine, albeit the GA (General Arrangement) drawing was assembled at Bristol ([Filton](/source/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.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Turbo-Union|journal=Flight International|date=19 January 1980|page=183|url=https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1980/1980%20-%200193.PDF}}</ref> The RAF had engines assembled and supported from Bristol, the [German Air Force](/source/German_Air_Force) and [Navy](/source/German_Navy) from [Munchen](/source/Munchen), and the [Italian Air Force](/source/Italian_Air_Force) from Torino.

==History==
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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Panavia Tornado celebrates 40 years of first flight|url=http://www.panavia.de/news-events/detail/?tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=4&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=32d35b6b480896bbce9607cf271ae16b|publisher=Panavia|access-date=1 January 2016}}</ref> 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](/source/Arbeitsgruppe_f%C3%BCr_Luft_und_Raumfahrt) (ALR) based in Zurich, proposed an aircraft called the [Piranha 6](/source/ALR_Piranha) 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Eurofighter Typhoon|url=https://typhoon.starstreak.net/Eurofighter/engines.html|publisher=Eurojet|access-date=1 January 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151008015338/http://typhoon.starstreak.net/Eurofighter/engines.html|archive-date=8 October 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Its predecessor, the [British Aerospace EAP](/source/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](/source/Marshal_of_the_Royal_Air_Force) [Denis Spotswood](/source/Denis_Spotswood) was chairman from 1975 to 1980.

For many years, the designer of the Pegasus engine, [Gordon Lewis](/source/Gordon_Lewis_(engineer)), 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).

thumb|right|RB199 engine

==References==
{{reflist}}
* {{cite book |last= Gunston |first= Bill |title= World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines, 5th Edition |year= 2006 |publisher= Sutton Publishing Limited |location= Phoenix Mill, Gloucestershire, England, UK |isbn= 0-7509-4479-X }}

==See also==
* [EuroJet Turbo GmbH](/source/EuroJet_Turbo_GmbH)
* [Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom](/source/Aerospace_industry_in_the_United_Kingdom)
* [Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Limited](/source/Rolls-Royce_Turbomeca_Limited) - set up in 1965 between Rolls-Royce and France's [Turbomeca](/source/Turbomeca) to make the [Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour](/source/Rolls-Royce_Turbomeca_Adour) for the [SEPECAT Jaguar](/source/SEPECAT_Jaguar)

{{MTU aeroengines}}
{{RR aeroengines}}

Category:Aircraft engine manufacturers of the United Kingdom
Category:Aerospace companies of Europe
Category:Multinational aircraft engine manufacturers
Category:Companies based in Derby
Category:Companies based in Bristol
Category:Gas turbine manufacturers
Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1969
Category:1969 establishments in England

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Turbo-Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo-Union) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo-Union?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.