Thu, Jan 15, 2009
Engine Seen As Potential Replacement For Apache, Black
Hawk Helicopter Turbine
The Advanced Turbine Engine Company, LLC (ATEC), a Honeywell and
Pratt & Whitney joint venture, has successfully completed the
Preliminary Design Review by the US Army Aviation Applied
Technology Directorate (AATD) and other government customers for
the Advanced Affordable Turbine Engine (AATE) technology
demonstrator program.
The advanced engine is planned as a potential retrofit for the
T700 engine now powering UH-60 Black Hawk and AH-64 Apache
helicopters. The AATE demonstrator program is designed to validate
the technologies needed to achieve the Army's aggressive
performance goals of 65 percent improvement in shaft horsepower
(SHP)/weight ratio and a 25 percent improvement in fuel consumption
for the next-generation 3,000 SHP turboshaft engine.
"The successful Preliminary Design Review demonstrates the
innovation of this new engine design and the ATEC team's strong
commitment to our customer," said Dave Katariya, ATEC program
director and Honeywell program manager. "This new engine will
provide an innovative solution for the Army's power requirements,
as well as help lower fuel consumption by delivering greater
efficiencies."
"Successful completion of the PDR is the first of many major
milestones for the AATE program as we develop this advanced
engine," said Jerry Wheeler, ATEC deputy program director and Pratt
& Whitney program manager. "The ATEC team is focused on
leveraging the industry leading strengths of Pratt & Whitney
and Honeywell to meet the Army's performance goals for the next
generation turboshaft engine."
With the completion of PDR the ATEC team will now focus on
execution of Detailed Design and the beginning of validation
testing. Validation testing will begin in 2009 and will continue
through full engine testing in 2011.
The $109 million AATE contract was awarded to ATEC by the US
Army in May 2008.
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