Leonardo buys Swiss helicopter firm

On the same subject

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  June 10, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Honeywell and U.S. Army to demo next-generation T55 engine for Chinook helicopters

  Honeywell has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Army to demonstrate and fly its upgraded T55 engine on the heavy-lift, twin-engine Chinook helicopter. The new 6,000-horespower engine is 25% more powerful and consumes 10% less fuel than the current T55. New modifications also make the next-generation T55 easier to maintain with lower operating costs and increased readiness for the warfighter. The new T55-GA-714C engine is specifically designed for next-generation military operators, and will improve the Chinook helicopter's ability to lift troops and heavy cargo for the U.S. Army and National Guard. Because the engine is based closely on the T55 version currently in use, almost no airframe changes are required — the same intake, exhaust and engine airframe mounts are used. This provides the Army and National Guard with a major engine improvement without the need to retrain their maintenance and operational staff. The design improvement will be demonstrated as part of the Cooperation Research and Development Agreement process with the U.S. Army. The engine upgrade can be incorporated either by modifying existing engines at overhaul in the U.S. fleet or with new production engines. "Honeywell has spent years designing and developing the T55-GA-714C engine as part of our commitment to push the T55's power beyond the needs of the Chinook helicopter," said Dave Marinick, president, Engines and Power Systems, Honeywell Aerospace. "For 60 years, we've powered the world's most premier heavy-lift helicopter, and this latest improvement increases performance while saving important program dollars and maintenance hours as well as increasing mission readiness. We are proud of our legacy on the Chinook helicopter, and we are committed to continuously improve the T55 engine." The installation and demonstration of the advanced T55 engine will take place on a CH-47F Chinook at Fort Eustis in Newport News, Virginia, under the supervision of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center. The demonstration will show the ease of installation and prove out the engine's new compressor design that brings additional performance and reduces fuel burn. After that, Honeywell will complete the final qualification process for the new engine design. Honeywell first delivered the T55 engine to the U.S. Army in 1961 at 2,050 shaft horsepower on the CH-47A helicopter. Since that time, the engine's power has nearly tripled to 6,000 shaft horsepower. Each performance increase on the T55 is accompanied by reduced fuel burn, increased reliability and decreased maintenance hours. The T55 engine is the world leader in powering heavy lift helicopters. Over 900 CH-47 helicopters are operated today by various militaries around the world. Press release issued by Honeywell Aerospace on June 4, 2020 http://www.airframer.com/news_story.html?release=74824

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  October 25, 2023 | International, Aerospace

  Atlas, other ‘troubled’ Space Force programs to miss 2023 deliveries

  The programs include GPS OCX, ATLAS and MGUE — three efforts that have faced repeated delays in recent years.

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  December 3, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Italy lays out plans to buy up to eight new sensor-loaded Gulfstreams

  By: Tom Kington ROME – Italy is planning to buy up to eight new Gulfstream signals intelligence aircraft and build a maintenance hub for similar aircraft operated by other nations around the Mediterranean. The plans, which were outlined in documents supplied to the Italian parliament, would reinforce Italy's signals intelligence capability as the Mediterranean becomes a flashpoint for regional tensions with neighbors like Turkey and Egypt tussling over the future of lawless Libya. The Italian acquisition was first mentioned in this year's budget document, released in October, which cited the need for ‘multi-mission, multi-sensor' Gulfstream G-550 jets and listed an outlay of 1.23 billion euros. An illustration of the aircraft in the document resembled Israel's ‘Shavit' Signals Intelligence Gulfstream, while the required capabilities listed included command and control, “electronic superiority” and “electronic protection of forces.” Now, the government has sent parliament a second document giving more details of the plan ahead of a vote by the parliamentary defense commission on the purchase. The document calls for the purchase of two aircraft which have already been converted for Sigint missions and equipped with the required systems before the purchase of a further six G-550 jets ready for subsequent conversion. Analysts have suggested the need to buy the unconverted aircraft quickly is due to the Gulftstream G550 going out of production. The aircraft would be based at the Italian Air Force's Pratica di Mare base south of Rome, which is already home to the two Gulfstream 550 Conformal Airborne Early Warning aircraft Italy purchased from Israel's IAI in 2012. With up to 10 G-550s in its fleet, Italy would build up a maintenance operation which would not only serve its own aircraft but be able to “offer services to the Gulfstream fleet operating in Europe and the Middle East, with about 200 jobs created,” the document stated. No indication was given about which company would be contracted to supply the two converted jets or carry out the conversion work on the other six, but the document stated that “given the complexity” of the program, a non-Italian contractor would be brought in. National offset work would be sought the document stated. Funding for the buy is due to kick off next year and will stretch out to 2056 stated the document, which has been seen by Defense News. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/12/02/italy-lays-out-plans-to-buy-up-to-eight-new-sensor-loaded-gulfstreams