Rolls-Royce is considering introducing around 2012 an all-new family of turboshaft engines in the 8,000-10,000shp (5,960-7,500kW) range, says a US-based executive.
Dennis Jarvi, president of R-R's North American defence business, says he believes a new market is emerging for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft in the heavylift class.
"I think there's going to be a need for somewhere between 8,000shp to 10,000shp," Jarvi says, although "we have some time to work on it".
R-R builds the 6,000shp-class AE2100 and 1107C engines for the Lockheed Martin C-130J and Bell Boeing V-22. The company also is a partner in the Europrop consortium that supplies the 12,000shp-class TP400 for the A400M programme.
The new engine family would bridge the considerable gap between these products as the demand for more lift capacity grows for both fixed-wing airlift and helicopters.
Jarvi says the new engine family could be targeted at such emerging applications as the US military's Joint Future Theater Lift (JFTL) requirement, which is considering super-short-take-off proposals by the air force and vertical-lift proposals by the army in the A400M-size class.
R-R is also looking at a potential repowering programme for the Boeing MH-47G Chinooks operated by the US Special Operations Command, Jarvi says. The MH-47G is equipped with Honeywell T55-714 engines.
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Source: Flight Daily News
