Rolls-Royce bags £1.9bn deal to supply US Air Force

FTSE 100 aerospace engineer Rolls-Royce has bagged a £1.9bn deal to supply parts for the US Air Force’s fleet of B-52 bombers for the next three decades.

Rolls will provide engines for the 76 planes from its American manufacturing plant in Indianapolis.

The deal forms part of the US Air Force’s strategy to upgrade their B-52 fleet to ensure they keep running until 2050.

The deal comes as Rolls is in the process of offloading its Spanish arm to private equity firm, Bain Capital. Bain has until tomorrow to finalise a £1.3bn acquisition of ITP Aero, which is based near Bilbao.

The deal was halted by demands from the Spanish and Basque authorities to involve local companies in the purchase to ease concerns about job losses and weaker investment.

Rolls’s share price rose 4.38 per cent on Friday and is up more than 150 per cent over the last year.