Snecma, Rolls-Royce Deutschland Likely to Form Partership

Snecma, Rolls-Royce Deutschland Likely to Form Partnership

A major question hangs over Turbomeca, the world's leading manufacturer of helicopter engines, as it appears here at Farnborough: What does its new owner, Snecma, plan to do with it?

Snecma Group chairman Jean-Paul Bechat told Show News it is far too early to talk about any plans for Turbomeca. But asked if it would keep its name, he replied "Sure, sure. I will never commit myself forever, but I see no need or advantage to change the Turbomeca name."

Although Turbomeca fits well into Snecma's product line, it was not the only attraction that drew Snecma to buying its parent, Labinal. The latter's aeronautical equipment business is half the size of the engine unit with annual sales of around $300 million, and is well placed with Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier and Dassault. Snecma, Europe's leading equipment manufacturer, saw it as a nice fit.

"Turbomeca is well positioned in its market. I don't have any short-term plans to change anything," said Bechat.

Turbomeca is even better positioned after winning selection for the French, German and Dutch NH90 fleet for its RTM 322 engine. This major victory will make it the powerplant for up to 399 of the twin-engined helicopters; more than 200 engines have already been delivered for the UK WAH-64 Apache and the three-engined, 30-passenger EH101 transport helicopter.

The two rival teams competing for the engine on the Airbus Military A400M transport -- one group led by Snecma, the other by Rolls-Royce Deutschland -- likely will form a single partnership to power the aircraft.

"We've been competing against Rolls-Royce on this for one and a half years, and are now in the final stages," Snecma Group chairman Jean-Paul Bechat told Show News. "But the customer -- Airbus Military -- and their customers, the seven governments involved, have asked if we can do this as a common project."

More specifically the U.K. government, in being the first to place a commitment for the A400M with an order for 25, made it clear it wants Rolls-Royce involved.

"I fully understand that. So we should find a way to have a common project," Bechat said.

It is, however, easier said than done. The 13,000 shaft horsepower M138 engine -- the most powerful turboprop in the western world -- is based on the core of the Snecma M88 fighter engine that powers the Rafale. The Rolls-Royce contender utilizes the core of the BR700 engine developed for regional airliners.

Snecma's partners -- MTU of Germany, FiatAvio of Italy, ITP of Spain and associate partner Techspace Aero from Belgium-will all be involved in the compromise with the Rolls-Royce consortium.

"This should not be a battle," said Bechat. Luckily, engines today are modular, and this may help reach a solution. In any case, there is plenty of time to get together with Rolls-Royce and design and certify the engine before it is needed by the A400M.

Bechat pointed out that the engine will depend heavily on lessons learned in commercial rather than military programs, and this will facilitate its development.

He added that Snecma and Rolls-Royce have long been partners on commercial engines, with Snecma subsidiary Hispano-Suiza providing power transmissions and accessory gearboxes for a wide range of engines, including the BR700 series, and the Trent 500, 700 and 800. "And we are also discussing a joint venture for military aircraft engines of the future," he said.

"In this respect we already work well with Rolls-Royce; a program on the engine for the A400M will be a follow-on."

Bechat likened the situation on the M138 to that in the United States on the Joint Strike Fighter, where governments are prepared to share a program among competitors in order to maintain an industrial base.

The situation is similar in space." Military and space programs are limited in quantity and by national budgets, so it will become more necessary to work together with competitors," Bechat said. "These are very different markets than for commercial aircraft, where there is room for competition."