The title Rolls-Royce will seemingly evoke a collection of particular adjectives within the thoughts of most. “Luxurious,” for one. “Opulent” is one other. And, except you are one of many very, very fortunate few, “unattainable” might be up there too. The Rolls-Royce Spectre and Cullinan Sequence II, for instance, are picture-perfect examples of the otherworldly class and refinement the model brings to the desk. For $500,000 of your hard-earned {dollars}, it is the least you’d count on.
Nonetheless, extra merchandise are made beneath the Rolls-Royce title than these (admittedly spectacular) passenger autos. And whereas not all of them are fairly as luxurious or elegant because the vehicles, they’re hardly extra attainable, usually the protect of armies and large companies. You see, there presently are two Rolls-Royces: the one which makes the vehicles is Rolls-Royce Motor Vehicles, which has been a BMW model since 2003. The opposite is Rolls-Royce Holdings, which traces its roots again to 1906 and as soon as counted the motorcar division beneath its umbrella, however is now a completely separate firm from the BMW-owned operation — that is the Rolls-Royce we’re centered on right here.
Rolls-Royce Holdings manufactures critical, megabucks {hardware} for protection and civil aerospace markets, with a notable presence in energy era and power storage markets. It is a complete different world in comparison with the vehicles, and you might be shocked by among the distinctly unglamorous — however no much less spectacular — {hardware} that bears the Rolls-Royce title.
Submarine propulsion techniques
$500,000 for a Rolls-Royce Spectre is nothing in comparison with among the autos — for lack of a greater time period — that Rolls-Royce Holdings’ merchandise energy. We do not have actual numbers, however the British authorities put aside a cool 31 billion kilos (just a little over $42 billion) to construct simply 4 of its upcoming Dreadnought submarines.
Rolls-Royce has powered British nuclear submarines for the reason that Royal Navy’s Valiant-class submarines from 1966, all the way in which to its Vanguard-class submarines, that are nonetheless among the most superior nuclear submarines on this planet, regardless of launching all the way in which again in 1994 as a part of the nation’s Trident nuclear deterrent program. The Dreadnought submarines, set to start prowling the seas within the early 2030s, proceed this custom. All 4 Dreadnought vessels will use Rolls-Royce’s Pressurised Water Reactor 3 (PWR 3), which is the successor to the PWR 2 reactor current within the Vanguard submarines. So essential is the corporate’s function within the U.Okay.’s nuclear submarine program that Rolls-Royce signed a roughly 9-billion-pound take care of the U.Okay. Ministry of Defence (MoD) earlier in 2025.
Rolls-Royce can also be a part of the Dreadnought Alliance, which brings collectively the three organizations answerable for the Royal Navy’s new submarines: Rolls-Royce, which supplies propulsion; BAE techniques, tasked with constructing the precise subs; and the Submarine Supply Company (a part of the MoD), which handles the acquisition and disposal of all of the nation’s undersea vessels.
Marine and naval engines
Rolls-Royce engines aren’t only a fixture beneath the ocean; they’re additionally current in vessels that function on the floor of the world’s oceans. Whether or not it is for navy, industrial, or leisure functions, Rolls-Royce — and its mtu Options subsidiary — seemingly has an acceptable providing in its product portfolio.
Let’s begin with mtu Options, which got here beneath the Rolls-Royce umbrella again in 2011. The Germany-based firm makes a hybrid energy system for yachts referred to as the mtu Hybrid PropulsionPack. The hybrid techniques mix mtu’s 2000 or 4000 diesel engines with twin electrical drivetrain techniques. Rolls-Royce claims that an mtu Sequence 2000 setup, for instance, can supply as much as 4818 kW price of power from its hybrid system and cut back gasoline consumption by 10% — for a simulated four-day cruise, at the very least. Rolls-Royce and mtu aren’t simply counting on hybrid energy to chop emissions, both; the Sequence 2000 and 4000 engines are anticipated to be licensed to be used with various fuels equivalent to biomass-to-liquid (BtL), hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), and power-to-liquid (PtL), making maritime propulsion simply that little bit extra sustainable.
Different, much less eco-friendly energy options from Rolls-Royce embody its MT30 gasoline generators, that are the first engines in lots of sorts of fashionable warships. These embody vessels equivalent to Canada’s upcoming River-class destroyers and South Korea’s Ulsan-class frigates. Equally, mtu’s Sequence 8000 engines energy the Polish navy’s Miecznik frigates. The Canadian and Korean vessels additionally use different Rolls-Royce merchandise, such because the Sequence 4000 diesel turbines.
Plane engines
We go from the ocean to the air and what’s seemingly Rolls-Royce Holdings’ most well-known endeavor: airplane engines. The unique Rolls-Royce firm’s Eagle VIII V12 engine from the 1910s powered WWI-era plane such because the Sopwith Atlantic and Blackburn Blackbird, and that lineage. continues to at the present time. Rolls-Royce-powered fighter planes such because the Panavia Twister proceed to function in aerial fight conditions.
As with its sea-going engines, nevertheless, Rolls-Royce does not simply make navy airplane engines. It additionally has a powerful presence in civil aviation, with the corporate producing a big household of Trent jet engines that energy many industrial plane. In truth, in 2014 Rolls-Royce ranked because the second-largest producer of economic jet engines, and it was within the high 4 of plane engine producers typically as of 2020.
Rolls-Royce’s present lineup of Trent industrial jet engines contains the Trent 7000, a comparatively new engine that debuted in 2019 to energy Airbus’ A330neo airliner, and the Trent XWB, which was designed and optimized for the Airbus A350. Sadly for Rolls-Royce, its civil plane engines have not essentially had the perfect time of late: the agency’s Trent 1000 was affected by points within the late 2010s, whereas the Airbus A330neo’s Trent 7000s have been criticized for allegedly underperforming. Regardless of that, Rolls-Royce has continued to seek out consumers for its engines, not too long ago signing contracts to ship 142 engines — together with 40 Trent 7000s — to airways equivalent to Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Air, Taiwan’s Starlux Airways, and Vietnam’s Vietjet Air.
Energy turbines
Given Rolls-Royce’s experience in maritime diesel turbines, it is seemingly not going to be a lot of a shock that it has a hand in making stationary energy era and storage merchandise. The corporate makes a variety of options right here, with some coming as soon as once more from its mtu Options subsidiary.
Mtu makes gasoline and diesel gensets able to working at each 50 and 60 Hz, with energy outputs starting from 27 kWe on the low finish to three,250 kWe on the high quality. Diesel turbines are those protecting each ends of this spectrum, with mtu’s pure gasoline or biogas-capable turbines sitting within the 2,500 kWe vary. The corporate’s biogas gensets are focused towards extra rural contexts — livestock, farming, and agriculture, for instance — whereas its diesel energy crops function backup or standby turbines for knowledge facilities, nursing properties, and even airports like Tulsa Worldwide Airport.
Purchasers who need to free themselves from a rustic’s nationwide electrical energy grid may also flip to Rolls-Royce, as the corporate has sufficient merchandise in its portfolio to arrange microgrids. These use renewable power sources, mixed with Rolls-Royce’s battery power storage techniques, to create localized energy grids that guarantee a facility or group has fixed electrical energy, even when the nationwide grid faces disruptions. Rolls-Royce additionally produces industrial-scale, battery-free UPS techniques — as soon as once more, by way of mtu Options — to spherical out its energy era and storage choices.
Nuclear micro-reactor
Rolls-Royce is not content material to have a presence on land, sea, and within the air. The corporate can also be concentrating on outer house with a nuclear micro-reactor, which it first introduced in 2023 and has but to come back to fruition. So no, it is technically not a “product” — however are you able to blame us for together with it?
Anyway, Rolls-Royce’s space-bound energy supply is a 10-foot micro-reactor able to producing between 1 and 10 megawatts of energy. The agency claims that the uranium-powered reactor shall be extremely power-dense, with the design capable of present energy and warmth for all types of apparatus whereas nonetheless remaining transportable. Whereas the venture’s major purpose is to enter house — Rolls-Royce intends to have the micro-reactor’s first orbital check earlier than 2030 — its compact measurement signifies that it may supply clear power in distant, off-the-grid places. The world’s militaries may profit, because the reactor might be used to maintain the lights on at ahead working bases in hostile warfare zones.
The venture had sufficient potential to persuade the U.Okay. Area Company to speculate roughly $6 million in 2024 to assist Rolls-Royce attain its targets, develop the entire system, and ultimately launch an illustration in house. As of March 2025, the corporate was actively in search of partnerships to assist put its micro-reactor on the moon. Solely time will inform whether or not Rolls-Royce can obtain its lofty spacefaring ambitions, however it’s actually an endeavor to regulate — and one that would change the way in which we generate energy without end.
