The Advanced Turbine Engine Company (ATEC), a joint venture of Honeywell and Pratt & Whitney, has completed the successful installation of a high-fidelity mock-up of the T900 engine.
The T900 is ATEC’s offering for the Army’s Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP), which is developing a more powerful and efficient replacement for the current engine powering these two platforms.
The installation occurred in the left and right engine bays of a UH-60 Black Hawk and AH-64 Apache helicopter.
Since completing the successful testing of two demonstrator engines in the Advanced Affordable Turbine Engine program in late 2014, ATEC has continued reducing risk for the T900 engine through numerous component rig tests that build on the already successful engine demonstrations.
These additional tests help ATEC improve engine performance while providing further validation of the T900 dual-spool engine architecture. Since August 2016, the company has been executing preliminary design of the T900 engine through the Technology Maturation and Risk Reduction (TMRR) phase of the ITEP program. This effort will result in a Preliminary Design Review of the T900 engine with the Army in March 2018.
Jerry Wheeler, Vice President, Advanced Turbine Engine Company, said: “The successful installation of this mock-up engine into these two helicopters validates the substantial progress and efforts ATEC, the aircraft manufacturers, and the Army have completed over the past decade.
“Developing an engine that produces 50 percent more power, is 20-25% more fuel efficient, and fits within the existing bay of the Black Hawk and Apache is an exciting technical challenge. This successful, first-time engine installation is a true validation that ATEC is ready to meet that challenge and that the T900 engine is the right choice for the Army in providing improved mission capabilities to our warfighters.”
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