PARIS -- GE Aviation would like you to know that its T700-401C engines will be flying aboard the 24 MH-60R Seahawk helicopters that Australia is buying from the U.S., the company announced Tuesday. It's a coup worth a lot to the company when you factor everything togther:
Value of the deal, including engines, spares and the Total Logistics Support package, is approximately $100 million. Engine deliveries are expected to start in 2013, with initial helicopter deliveries scheduled for 2014."We would like to congratulate Team Romeo on its first-ever international sale of the MH-60R, and the entire Australian naval community," said Ed Birtwell, general manager of GE Aviation Turboshaft/Turboprop Programs. "We are confident that the low-risk, proven capability T700 design will deliver added value for critical maritime warfare capability".
GE says this particular helicopter engine has had ample time to prove itself over the years in all the other aircraft it has powered across the world:
Rugged, reliable and easily maintainable, the T700 family applies advanced technologies to an experience base of 50 million hours of operation. The T700/CT7 family of turboprop and turboshaft engines currently powers 25 types of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, with more than 130 customers in 50 countries.
There, in a nutshell, you have the hope and strategy for so many aerospace companies at the Paris Air Show this year: Helicopters, helicopters, helicopters.
