General Electric has won a $26.4 million US Navy contract to supply 60 T58 engine upgrade kits for the US Marine Corps’ Boeing C-46E Sea Knight helicopters, plus 60 options. To be completed by November 2007, the contract calls for the supply of 96 titanium nitride-coated aerofoil kits to upgrade modules previously delivered under the T58 Engine Reliability Improvement Program (ERIP). Treated parts are expected to have twice the life expectancy and reduced maintenance requirements.
The first modules with erosion-resistant compressor coatings were introduced to the H-46E fleet in July 2005. GE says the ERIP programme includes new production core modules and accessory kits covering the conversion of 449 T58-16 engines to an upgraded -16A configuration at the Naval Air Depot at Cherry Point, North Carolina. GE, which was initially awarded a T58 ERIP contract in 2002, says more than 900 T58 engines are still in service with the USN and USMC, with another 800-plus operating with other military forces around the world.
Source: Flight International
