POWER PLAY

Snecma is planning an ambitious research and demonstration project aimed at positioning the French engine maker as a rival to established players in the business jet market.

The demonstrator, known as the SM-X, is intended to develop core engine technologies that could be used to base a bizjet powerplant in the 8,500-10,000-lb.-thrust class, with the exact power level being determined once the market picture crystallizes later in the decade. It will draw on features of the 13,000-18,000-lb.-thrust-class SaM-146 regional jet engine being developed with NPO Saturn for the Russian Regional Jet, but with an entirely new architecture, says Jean-Paul Bechat, CEO of Snecma parent Safran.

THE SM-X IS TARGETED AT MID-SIZE and super mid-size business jets, the lower end of the large cabin bizjet range and smaller regional jets. A number of projects are expected to emerge in this segment in the coming years, including Dassault Aviation's Falcon 5X, a new Embraer Legacy model and a Bombardier Challenger 604 replacement.

This market is currently served by the Rolls-Royce Allison AE3007 and General Electric CF34. Although those engines have been upgraded over time, their architecture is derived from concepts inspired decades ago, says Jean-Pierre Cojan, vice president and general manager of Snecma's commercial engine division. Cojan believes an all-new powerplant would offer substantial performance enhancements, including a 20-40% reduction in maintenance costs and a more than 5% decrease in fuel burn. Cojan says the market response has been positive, despite Snecma's lack of experience in this sector.

SM-X development is going to mirror the Snecma approach on the SaM-146, which was launched in 2003, company officials say. The SaM-146 started out as an engine-core demonstration project dubbed DEM 21, to meet regional jet and large-cabin long-range business jet applications. Designed to compete against Rolls-Royce's BR700 and the new Pratt & Whitney Canada PW800, it made its first bench run last year and is scheduled to begin delivery this spring.

For SM-X, like SaM-146, the initial focus will be the demonstration of the high-pressure section. (Snecma already has strong credentials in the low-pressure end through the CFM International CFM56, its joint venture with GE.) The core would consist of four axial and one centrifugal compressor stages, a low nitrogen oxide combuster, and a single-stage high-pressure turbine. For Snecma, this would be the first application of a centrifugal compressor stage, Cojan notes, although the unit can draw on the expertise of its helicopter engine maker sister company, Turbomeca.

Although work on the low-pressure side wouldn't come until later, details are already emerging. The engine would feature titanium, swept wide-chord blades in the fan, and a three-stage low-pressure compressor. Snecma would likely benefit from the Leap56 technology development program, initiated last year to assure CFM International a viable product when Airbus and Boeing launch their next-generation, single-aisle projects around 2012.

A MULTI-STAGE TEST CAMPAIGN of the SM-X core is expected to begin in the fall of 2007. A formal launch decision is expected in 2008-09.

Snecma plans to invest nearly 100 million euros ($120 million) in the SM-X effort initially, although that could grow. The company is seeking risk-sharing partners to shoulder additional investment, as it did for the SaM-146, but it will maintain majority control, says Safran's executive vice president for propulsion, Jean-Paul Herteman. Team members will likely be named this year, he adds.