Rolls-Royce announced on Tuesday it’s wrapped testing of a new aircraft engine compressor at an Air Force Research Lab facility in Dayton, Ohio. The company is maturing this technology under AFRL’s Highly Energy Efficient Turbine Engine program. The testing validated the compressor design, and the compressor achieved the highest pressure ratio ever demonstrated at the facility, states the company’s July 9 release. “The advanced compressor technology can be applied to future transport, patrol, and [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] applications,” said Mark Wilson, chief operating officer of Rolls-Royce LibertyWorks, the company’s cutting-edge research shop. “The advanced technology will help meet the future needs of the US military by increasing range and persistence, while reducing fuel consumption,” he said. HEETE is focused on improving the next-generation of high-performance, subsonic military aircraft engines.
A majority of panelists convened by the Atlantic Council to assess the situation in Ukraine believe that Russia will have enough forces—and recent practice in Belarus—to invade Ukraine within a month. A senior Air Force official concurred, saying the service expects the conflict soon.