Turbo-Union

Turbo-Union Limited is a joint venture of three European aero-engine manufacturers, FiatAvio (now Avio), MTU Aero Engines and Rolls-Royce.

Turbo Union as a whole designed and produced the engine, albeit the GA (General Arrangement) drawing was assembled at Bristol (Filton) from all three partners' inputs.

Over 2000 engines were built up to and including the 1990s, from components sourced in all three countries in approximate proportion to their Governmental support.

In 1983, a Swiss organisation, the Arbeitsgruppe für Luft und Raumfahrt (ALR) based in Zurich, proposed an aircraft called the Piranha 6 powered by a single RB199.

The first chairman was Hugh Conway, the managing director of the Bristol (Filton) plant of Rolls-Royce.