Julian Moxon/PARIS
FRENCH ENGINE manufacturer Snecma and its CFM International partner General Electric expect to agree by the end of the year to launch the CFM56-XX turbofan for the growth Airbus A340 variant and other Airbus and Boeing derivatives.
New Snecma president Bernard Dufour has made it clear that his company wants to lead development of the 200kN (43,000lb) engine's core, reversing the positions previously held. GE is responsible for the core of the current CFM56 range.
GE says that it has "absolutely no problem" with Snecma's position. "We're in the middle of a $1 billion-a-year spending commitment on new and derivative engines," says the company. "Our development plate is full."
Discussions between Airbus, GE and Snecma on power for the growth A340 are at an "advanced stage", says one source, and specifications for the engine have been agreed. The CFM56-XX will be based largely on technology from the 400kN GE90 turbofan, and on the CFM56-7, for which a new core is under development to power the new Boeing 737 range. Snecma has 25% and 50% stakes in these engines, respectively.
A high-pressure-core demonstrator is due to be run by Snecma at the beginning of 1996. The programme is being funded jointly by the company, and by the defence and transport ministries. The CFM-56XX could cost Fr6 billion ($1.1 billion) to develop.
Other potential applications for the CFM-56XX, apart from the A340, include a replacement for the Airbus A310, a stretch version of the A321, and a possible Boeing 757 derivative.
Rival engine makers are also preparing plans to address the same market. Rolls-Royce says that it is "continuing new product studies" for an engine, provisionally called the RB-411, to replace the RB.211-535, while Pratt & Whitney remains committed to its advanced ducted prop concept, based either on the new Mid Thrust Family Engine core, or on an existing engine.
CFM International has received certification for its double-annular combustor-equipped CFM56-5B on the Airbus A321 from the French Direction Generale de l'Aviation Civile (DGAC).
The new engine will become the first of its kind to enter service when it begins operation with the Swissair fleet this month. CFMI says that the engine provides a 45% reduction in nitrous oxides emissions, compared with a standard CFM56-5B.
Funding for Aerospatiale/Snecma:
In a surprise decision by the French minister of transport, Bernard Bosson, Aerospatiale and Snecma are each to receive Fr1 billion ($190 million)-worth of French Government funding for research into new programmes. The money will be spread over four years, and be aimed at such projects as Snecma's development of the CFM56-XX core, and Aerospatiale's research into supersonic and ultra-large civil transports. It will also go towards new Airbus versions.
French sources note that the sudden approval of the extra funding comes just before the presidential elections, and that "...actual payment may not be a certainty". If it does go ahead, France will refute likely US objections about Government help for industry by claiming that the aid is indirect and follows the normal practice for industry funding in the USA.
Source: Flight International
