Manufacturer beats P&WC, Rolls-Royce and Snecma

GE Aircraft Engines has tightened its stranglehold on the large regional jet engine market after winning the four-way fight to supply the propulsion system for China Aviation Industry I's (AVIC I) ARJ21 79- to 99-seat regional jet family.

The signing of a letter of intent (LOI) between the US manufacturer and AVIC I at the show came as a surprise because GE had expected AVIC I to narrow the choice to two candidates before selecting the winner by year-end.

The losing bidders were Pratt & Whitney Canada offering its geared-fan PW800, Rolls-Royce with its BR710, and Snecma offering its all-new SM146 turbofan.

AVIC I is understood to have chosen GE's CF34-10A partly due to recent increases in the ARJ21 family's planned operating weights, which required more power. GE also presented an attractive commercial offer and cast the CF34-10 as a low-risk solution as it is already in development for the Embraer 190/195 family and is due for certification next year.

"By the time the ARJ21 enters service in 2006, the engine will have logged half a million flight hours of in-service experience on the Embraer 190/195," says GE.

The CF34-10A will be certificated at 18,500lb thrust (82kN) and will have a wide-chord fan, three-dimensionally aerodynamic compressor blades and single-annular low-emissions combustor.

"The technology, service and business factors all worked together to make GE the winner," says Tang Xiaoping, president of AVIC I Commercial Aircraft (ACAC), the company set up to manage ARJ21 development.

GE says it will be a risk-sharing partner by paying for development of the propulsion system, but will supply engines at a fixed price rather than taking a share of programme revenue. It has offered AVIC I the option of assembling and testing the engines in China.

The ARJ21 is due to enter service in 2006 and will be optimised for hot-and-high operations.

GE sees a potential market for 500 ARJ21s over the next 20 years, which would represent engine business worth $3 billion. It already buys engine parts worth $20 million annually from AVIC I, which it aims to increase to $400 million by 2005.

As expected, ACAC has signed up Boeing Commercial Aviation Services as an engineering consultant on the ARJ21, with particular focus on achieving avionics commonality with the next-generation 737 family. The initial contract lasts only five weeks, but contains an extension clause. Boeing will not invest in the project.

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Source: Flight International