Governor Mike Braun joined Rolls-Royce executives in Indianapolis on Thursday to cut the ribbon on a $1 billion investment in the company's Indiana manufacturing, assembly and test facilities, capping a decade-long overhaul of a campus that now employs around 3,500 people and builds engines bound for some of the Pentagon's biggest modernization programs.
The investment includes new ground test facilities, a full-engine test capability in Indianapolis, and an altitude test facility in West Lafayette, according to Fox 59. Officials said more Rolls-Royce defense products are built in Indianapolis than anywhere else in the world, and the company has called Indiana home for three decades. Adam Riddle, president of Rolls-Royce Defense and CEO of Rolls-Royce North America, said the company made the investment for U.S. national security and its own future, adding that the work will deliver for the American warfighter on time and to customer standards.
A Decade of Sequential Upgrades
Thursday's milestone traces back to 2015, when Rolls-Royce structured its billion-dollar Indiana commitment across sequential facility and technology upgrades rather than a single build-out. An earlier phase of that campaign wrapped in 2021, when the company completed a $600 million revitalization of its 1.5-million-square-foot Indianapolis campus, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal. State and local government agencies backed that phase with $15.5 million in state tax credits, $1.4 million in training grants through the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, and an estimated $21.7 million in 10-year local property tax abatements approved in 2015, the outlet reported.
Rolls-Royce's roots in the region run deeper still. The company established its Indiana manufacturing hub in March 1995, when it acquired the Indianapolis-based Allison Engine Company from General Motors for $525 million, absorbing an aviation heritage in the city dating back to 1915, per the Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Allison originally built engines for World War II fighters like the P-38 Lightning and later for Cold War-era transports such as the C-130.
Engines Bound for the B-52 and the Army's Next Helicopter
The Indianapolis facility already supports a range of defense and commercial platforms, including engines for the C-130J, the V-22 Osprey, and the U.S. Navy's MQ-25A Stingray, according to Fox 59's reporting on the ribbon-cutting. It is also positioned to build future engines for the U.S. Air Force's B-52 strategic bomber and the U.S. Army's MV-75 Cheyenne. The AE engine family produced at the plant shares 80% component commonality across variants and has surpassed 90 million flight hours globally, according to Rolls-Royce.
The B-52 work stems from a $2.6 billion U.S. Air Force contract awarded to Rolls-Royce in September 2021 to supply 608 Indianapolis-built F130 engines, replacing legacy Pratt & Whitney TF33 engines across 76 B-52H Stratofortress bombers in a program expected to run through at least 2050, per the U.S. Air Force. In December 2025, the Air Force also awarded Boeing a $2.04 billion task order for post-critical design review development and physical integration of those F130 engines onto test B-52 airframes, extending program execution through May 2033, according to The Defence Blog.
On the Army side, Rolls-Royce began ground testing in Indianapolis in December 2025 for its AE 1107F engine, designed to power prototypes of the MV-75 Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, which was designated Cheyenne II in April 2026 and is meant to replace the Black Hawk helicopter, according to Axios.
West Lafayette's Role and a Secretive Research Arm
Part of the expansion extends beyond Indianapolis to West Lafayette, where a joint initiative launched in August 2021 with Purdue University and the Purdue Research Foundation created specialized high-altitude and hybrid-electric test cells in the Purdue Aerospace District, according to Purdue University. Those ground-based, high-altitude test cells are considered rare specialized defense research assets in the United States, simulating flight conditions for military propulsion systems.
The Indianapolis campus also houses LibertyWorks, Rolls-Royce's top-secret defense research and development unit, which operates alongside a separate 10-year, $75 million strategic research alliance with Purdue focused on high-temperature materials and advanced propulsion, according to Defence Industry Europe. LibertyWorks develops proprietary propulsion technologies for next-generation combat aircraft.
State Officials Frame Investment as Economic Vote of Confidence
Indiana Secretary of Commerce Chuck Goodrich said Indiana is uniquely positioned to support the warfighter, and officials said Rolls-Royce is committed to creating high-quality jobs in the state for years to come. Braun said advanced manufacturing keeps Indiana's economy strong and growing, calling the billion-dollar investment a continued vote of confidence in Hoosier workers and the state.
According to Braun's office, the project marks Rolls-Royce's largest investment in the United States, one officials say will help power America's defense capabilities while generating economic impact for Hoosiers and their communities. The investment fits into a broader defense industrial cluster taking shape in Indiana, which also includes engine and airframe production for GE Aerospace and Saab in Lafayette, along with defense electronics plants for Raytheon and Curtiss-Wright in Indianapolis, according to Inside INdiana Business.
Thursday's ceremony marked the physical completion of a decade of construction, but the long-term economic payoff still hinges on factors outside Rolls-Royce's control — sustained federal defense procurement schedules, supply chain reliability, and multi-decade engine integration work carried out alongside prime contractors like Boeing and Bell.
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