FARNBOROUGH -- GE continues to enhance the performance, reliability and durability of its in-service T700/CT7 engine family while developing new, more powerful models and support packages to meet current and future requirements.
Qualified in 2005, the T700-701D engine is now powering Sikorsky's Black Hawk M helicopter, with initial deliveries of production helicopters due at the end of July. Funding for the U.S. Army's UH-60M Black Hawk program launches a 10-year plan to re-engine the UH-60L aircraft with T700-701D engines in support of the U.S. Army's goal to move to a single engine configuration for its entire Black Hawk and Boeing Apache AH-64 fleets. It is anticipated that more than 5,700 engines will be deployed for new UH-60Ms, upgraded UH-60 variants and re-manufactured AH-64s, with international opportunities starting in 2008.
Rated at 2,000 shaft horsepower (shp), the T700-701D includes changes to the hot section and power turbine to deliver 5 percent more power than the -701C, plus lower life cycle costs and added durability for extended operations. Future technical upgrades include a Full Authority Digital Electronic Control (FADEC) system, which is being developed under a U.S. government contract and is scheduled for qualification in 2008.
The U.S. Navy is also incorporating durability features into its T700-401C engine for the MH-60 S/R multi-mission ship based helicopters. New features include hot section durability improvements and a "ruggedized" stage one-compressor blisk, which features a thicker leading edge for improved sand ingestion tolerance. Improvements will be phased in on 480 helicopters in the SH60 and MH60 fleets, with infusion of ruggedized blisks to begin in 2007. The T700 is also providing the power for the Bell Helicopter H-1 upgrade program for US Marine Corps AH-1Z attack and UH-1Y utility helicopters. Operational evaluations for both helicopters began in May and are scheduled for completion later this year.
The number of T700/CT7 customers and new applications continues to grow. Delivery of the first CT7-powered S-92 to the People's Republic of China in 2007 will mark GE – Aviation's first commercial helicopter sale to that country. Brunei Shell Petroleum will take delivery of three S-92s later this year, also for transport of personnel to oilrigs for production and exploration. The T700-701K turboshaft engine has been selected to power 245 new indigenous helicopters ordered by the Republic of Korea (ROK). Delivery of engine kits will start in 2007, with flight testing of helicopters scheduled to begin in 2009. The -701K, the first rear-drive variant of the T700, enables easy installation into the KHP helicopter and provides opportunities to power other rear-drive applications.
On the services side, the U.S. Army awarded GE a contract in December 2005 to continue overhaul support of T700 engines to a -701D configuration at the Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD), TX, for fleet transformation of Boeing AH-64 and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. During the initial five-year contract initiated in 2000, overhaul turntimes have been reduced 80 percent while production capacity has tripled.
GE has also been awarded a contract for T58 engine module modification kits, with an option for 60 more in FY2007, for Marine Corps H-46E helicopters. Kits include airfoils treated with titanium nitride (TiN) coated airfoils. T58 and T64 parts treated with the TiN coating process are expected to double time-on-wing, compared to earlier designs, by reducing compressor blade erosion and maintenance time. Proven durability also enables a doubling or tripling of mission rate in harsh environments.
The T700 engine and its civil counterpart, the CT7, have amassed more than 50 million flight-hours powering 21 different aircraft models in service throughout the world. In addition, T700-powered aircraft accounted for nearly 70 percent of the U.S. Army's flight-hours in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
GE - Aviation, a part of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), is one of the world's leading manufacturers of jet engines for civil and military aircraft.