U.S. Army selects ATEC to design improved helicopter engine for Black Hawk and Apache fleets

The U.S. Army has announced that the Advanced Turbine Engine Company (ATEC), a joint venture of Honeywell and Pratt & Whitney, has been awarded a contract for preliminary design review of a new engine for the Army’s fleet of Black Hawk and Apache helicopters. The two-year contract, part of the Army’s Improved Turbine Engine (ITE) program, will support the design of an advanced 3,000 shaft horsepower turbine engine – ATEC’s HPW3000 -. The primary goal of the ITE program is to produce an affordable new engine that will dramatically improve performance over the current engine powering Black Hawk and Apache helicopters. The Army specifications require that the new engine be 50% more powerful, 25% more fuel efficient, and provide 20% longer engine life over the current engine, while also meeting stringent performance goals in high altitude and hot conditions at 6,000 feet and 95 degrees Fahrenheit. ATEC recently completed testing of two HPW3000 demonstrator engines, which performed very well and have already validated various program requirements, according to Craig Madden, president of ATEC.