Safran Helicopter Engines is deep into the initial stages of multiple separate projects to expand the upper limits of its military turboshaft range, pushing power output well beyond the current 3,000shp (2,240kW) maximum.
At present, the most powerful engine in its range is the 3,000shp Aneto – an adaption of the earlier RTM322 for the NH Industries NH90 – but this will not meet the requirements of future applications.
“What we want to do now is continue to develop our product line in this market,” says chief executive Cedric Goubet.
The first output from this work will be an all-new engine it is developing through the Safhal joint venture with India’s Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL).
Destined to power a future 13-14t-class heavy helicopter, the Aravalli turboshaft – named after an Indian mountain – will need to produce around 4,000shp.
Safran will be responsible for the hot section of the powerplant, which is scheduled to enter service on the HAL-developed Indian Multi-Role Helicopter in the 2030-2031 timeframe.
“For us it is really, in the mid-term, the most powerful engine we will have ever developed,” said Goubet during a media roundtable at the Verticon trade show in Dallas on 11 March.
But Safran is contemplating even higher power outputs for military helicopter engines in the future.
Last year, it announced the formalisation of a joint venture with Germany’s MTU Aero Engines called the European Military Rotorcraft Engine Alliance (EURA).
This is designed to address an emerging need in Europe for a military rotorcraft likely to enter service around 2040.
As an initial step, the European Defence Fund (EDF) earlier this year announced it was providing €25 million ($27 million) to finance a project dedicated to a future engine for such an application.
EURA will respond to the EDF’s call for proposals, with project selection scheduled for next year.
While the EDF’s call specifies research into a powerplant capable of producing 3,000shp and above, Goubet says it is looking at output in the 4,000-6,000shp range “and even beyond”.
It will also need to deliver a “step change” in power-to-weight ratio, which should be improved by at least 50%. Hybrid technologies may also be incorporated.
At this stage EURA is “agnostic about the final architecture”, but Goubet concedes that such a powerful engine will require a two-shaft configuration. Further performance gains will come from improvements to the hot section.
The EDF engine project supports a parallel effort on the airframe called the European Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies and a separate NATO initiative led by seven alliance members, including France and Germany.
Called the Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability (NGRC), that effort is looking to develop a new medium-class platform with maximum take-off weight of up to 17t for service entry around 2040.
Three airframers, Airbus Helicopters, Leonardo Helicopters and Sikorsky, are developing concept design studies for the NGRC project towards a September deadline for submissions. Safran is teamed with Sikorsky for the effort.
Although EURA is at present a two-way joint venture, Goubet does not rule out incorporating other parties if a multi-national programme emerges. “It will depend on the configuration of the nations,” he says.
In the nearer term, Safran is also studying how it would increase the power of the RTM322 for the NH90 in support of a proposed Block 2 enhancement for the 11t helicopter.
NH Industries is likely to require more power from the 2,600shp engine, with obsolescence issues also to be dealt with.
Goubet says that could be achieved by a “redesign of the hot section to accommodate higher temperatures [and to] improve the thermal efficiency of the engine”.
