ROLLS-ROYCE MERLINS TO MISSILES

After building the RAF's war-winning engines, the iconic British firm began designing cutting-edge propulsion systems for NATO

- LOUIS HARDIMAN

The roar of Rolls-Royce Merlin V-12 aero engines was one of the most iconic sounds of the Second World War. The 150,000 Merlins that came out of the firm's factories comprised its most significant contribution to the Allied war effort. Merlins were the powerplant for the Avro Lancaster, de Havilland Mosquito, Handley Page Halifax, Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire. Rolls-Royce employed tens of thousands of workers to meet the demand for the engines, the sales of which grew the company into a formidable defence contractor. But demand abruptly halted when the war ended in 1945, and the Hillington factory alone decreased staff from 26,000 to 15,000 between VE Day and VJ Day. It was possible that Rolls-Royce was at a tipping point.

The world's slide into the Cold War in many ways saved the company. As global powers reorganised their defence spending around a potential conflict with the USSR, the military challenges they faced created opportunities for innovative and profitable engineering solutions. For example, in the early post-war period, British air combat assets needed to reduce their reliance on large air bases that would quickly be destroyed in a nuclear conflict. A vertical/short take-off and landing (V/STOL) attack plane could maintain Britain's aerial capabilities from carriers or improvised bases across the country. Design competitions for a jet engine suitable for V/STOL were held in 1961, which the Rolls-Royce Pegasus won. The Pegasus ingeniously used contra-rotating blades to avoid gyroscopic forces that would destabilise the Harrier aircraft during V/STOL manoeuvres. Rolls-Royce continued to construct Pegasus engines until 2008, producing 1,200 in total. Innovations like Pegasus met Cold War demands and secured Rolls-Royce as a key player in the British defence industry.

Rolls-Royce and MSOW