Tiger engines to be serviced in Germany and France

From now on, the two engine specialists MTU Aero Engines in Munich, Germany and Atelier d'Industriel Aeronautic (AIA) in Bordeaux, France will be in charge of maintaining the MTR390-2C engines of the Franco-German Tiger combat helicopter, having been approved as "revision centres" by the engine manufacturer, the European consortium MTU Turbomeca Rolls-Royce GmbH (MTR).

"We congratulate the two companies on their successful certification," said MTR Managing Director Clemens Linden as he handed over the certificates. "The Tiger engines can now be revised (Maintenance Level 3) in Germany and France. This complements the European defence concept as the national maintenance centres are best able to cater for the logistical needs of their respective armed forces," Linden continued.

Every Tiger is powered by two MTR390-2Cs, and about 20,000 engine flight hours have been clocked up with the helicopters delivered so far. This means that the maintenance centres in Germany and France have been completed at just the right time and can now back the logistical support service. The replacement of complete engines and engine modules (maintenance levels 1 and 2) will be handled by the respective air forces, while the revision centres will be responsible for dismantling engine modules into their component parts and replacing them.

Before being certified, the two companies had to undergo an intensive qualification process, with MTR providing manuals and tools to the centres and providing training for the staff of the revision centres and final auditing of their processes and organisations... The approval process for the revision centres ended with a successful verification of all relevant processes on a demonstration engine including the necessary test run.

MTU Turbomeca Rolls-Royce GmbH (MTR) was founded in Munich in June 1989 as a joint venture between the companies indicated in its name. As programme organizer, it is responsible for the development, production and maintenance of the Tiger's MTR390-2C engines. It is the contract partner to the European Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) and the Export Customers.