Defence giant Rolls-Royce has been awarded a $90 million contract by the US Department of Defense to provide support for the engines that power the US Navy's T-45 training aircraft.

This contract exercises the first of four option years to the base contract which was signed last year.

The F405-RR-401 (Adour) engines for the T-45 fleet have all been assembled and tested at Rolls in Patchway and the fleet is supported from the site's operations centre.

Under the terms of the MissionCare agreement, which is administered by the Naval Air Systems Command, Rolls-Royce will provide all maintenance, support, trouble-shooting, parts supply and logistics for both the F405 engine and the aircraft gas turbine starting system.

The contract provides services to more than 200 aircraft, operating at three main Naval Air Stations – Kingsville, Texas, Meridian, Missouri and Pensacola, Florida.

David Waggoner, President of Rolls-Royce Defence Services, said: "This contract demonstrates the customer's satisfaction with our performance.

"We are very proud of our partnership with the US Navy and look forward to the opportunity to continue providing engine readiness and availability which allows the US Navy to accomplish their critical training mission."

Rolls-Royce manufactures the F405-RR-401 (Adour) engine in partnership with Turbomeca. Rolls-Royce has been involved with T-45 programme support since inception through a variety of contracts awarded by both the US Navy and Boeing.

Aftermarket services, of which MissionCare is an important part, account for more than 50 per cent of the group's underlying revenues.