Rolls-Royce significantly expands mtu Series 199 for military vehicles

• 12-cylinder engine with over 1,300 kW output under development
• Large portfolio from 260 kW output for new vehicles and for repowering up to over 70 tonnes in weight

Rolls-Royce is expanding its mtu Series 199 for military land vehicles into a comprehensive product family with an increased power range for new vehicles and for the repowering of existing vehicles. In future, the mtu Series 199 will consist of four different cylinder variants with outputs ranging from 260 to 1,300 kW. At the DSEI defense technology exhibition in London from 9 to 12 September, Flensburger Fahrzeugbau (FFG) will be exhibiting a modernised Leopard 1 tank that has been retrofitted with an 8-cylinder engine from the mtu Series 199. With a current output of 800 kW, this is the most powerful drive ever installed in a Leopard 1 chassis, offering further potential for upgrading the vehicle. Numerous other vehicles powered by engines from this series will also be on display at DSEI.

Knut Müller, Senior Vice President Governmental Business at Rolls-Royce Division Power Systems, says: "The mtu Series 199 is an unprecedented success story. With thousands of engines delivered, for example for the `Boxer` and the variants based on it, it is the most successful engine series in its class. We are building on this success and developing further models in this series with 10 and 12 cylinders and outputs of over 1,000 kW. We see a high and urgent demand for these engines at reasonable cost from numerous armies that we supply, both for new vehicles and for the modernisation of existing ones. Due to the need for many NATO and allied countries to adapt their armed forces to the current threat situation, the demand for engines for military land vehicles is growing rapidly: Current armoured vehicles are being built in larger numbers than before, new vehicles are being developed, such as the successor to the Leopard 2 or a new battle tank for the Italian army, and existing tanks are being modernised to become more rapidly deployable. At the same time, the demands on engine performance are increasing because vehicles are tending to become heavier and require more electrical energy.”

For this reason, the mtu 199 series is being expanded into a larger engine family, after the power of the 8V199 had already been increased from 530 to 600 kW and is now being increased to 800 kW in a further step. The 10-cylinder 10V199, whose concept met with great interest from vehicle manufacturers and armed forces last year, is currently under development. It is optimised for armoured vehicles with a power requirement of up to 1,100 kW in order to achieve compact and weight-optimised drives. The 12-cylinder engine of the 199 series, which is currently being developed for heavy main battle tanks and support vehicles with a power requirement of 1,300 kW, is set to break new ground in terms of power and power-to-weight ratio, enabling these vehicles to achieve a growth potential of over 70 tonnes.

Knut Müller says: "Our customers can expect 1,300 kW of power from us. The performance of this mtu engine will eclipse everything that has been available in military drives to date. We expect it to be available in just a few years. Together with the 10-cylinder engine currently under development and the variants already available, we will be able to offer a comprehensive range to meet every customer requirement."

By developing the 199 series into a larger engine family, Rolls-Royce Power Systems is responding to the requests of many armed forces to limit the variety of drive systems and thus also the number of spare parts. As a product family within NATO, the 199 series thus offers unique logistical uniformity for the propulsion of wheeled vehicles such as the Boxer, lighter tracked vehicles weighing 25 tonnes such as the ACSV, the Leopard 1 weighing 40 tonnes, and heavy main battle tanks weighing over 70 tonnes.