Rolls-Royce has sold its stake in the engine that powers the British Army’s Apache attack helicopters.
The FTSE 100 business offloaded its 50 per cent holding in the RTM322 engine programme for £249million to French aerospace rival Safran, with whom it had jointly developed the project.
A Safran subsidiary, Turbomeca, will continue to develop the engines as well as maintaining the existing machines that have already been sold into the market. A Rolls-Royce spokesman said it will use cash from the sale ‘to invest in other defence programmes that offer better returns’.