Safran extends Ardiden 3TP team
Spanish company joins Franco-German team to develop Ardiden 3TP turboprop engine
Safran Helicopter Engines and Spanish aero engine company ITP Aero have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to cooperate on development of the Ardiden 3TP turboprop engine, which is envisaged for European military unmanned, training and transport aircraft.
ITP Aero joins ZF Aviation in the Ardiden 3TP team. In July 2020, Safran Helicopter Engines and ZF Aviation signed an MoA to offer Ardiden 3TP for European military helicopters.
Ardiden 3TP is a 100% European solution based on Safran’s Ardiden 3 core engine and featuring technologies developed through its Tech TP technological demonstrator, which ran for the first time in June 2019.
Florent Chauvancy, executive vice-president of OEM sales at Safran Helicopter Engines, commented: ‘We are committed to delivering the Ardiden 3TP, a 100% European engine featuring high levels of design maturity and competitive operating and maintenance costs. It will be designed, built and supported by highly-experienced teams using state-of-the-art industrial capabilities in Germany, Spain and France.’
Ardiden 3TP will be optimised for operation at altitudes up to 45,000ft. It is based on the Tech TP research and innovation programme within the European Clean Sky 2 research initiative, to develop a new-generation turboprop.
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