Poland has selected GE Aerospace’s CT7-2E1 turboshaft engine to power its new fleet of 32 Leonardo AW149 military helicopters. Aircraft deliveries will start in 2023. The engine shares many commonalities with the CT7-8E engine installed on the Polish Navy's Leonardo AW101s and the T700-701D engines on the Sikorsky Black Hawk used by the Polish Special Forces and National Police.
GE’s CT7-2E1 engines power the majority of Leonardo AW149 and AW189 helicopters in service today. More than 25,000 T700/CT7 family of turboshaft engines have been delivered to more than 130 customers in more than 50 countries and surpassed more than 100 million flight hours. Current models are in the 2,000 to 3,000-shp range.
“After evaluating engine alternatives for the AW149 helicopter, we concluded that the CT7-2E1 engines best meet our needs from all aspects, such as performance, maintenance cost, reliability, and commonality with our existing Black Hawk and AW101 helicopters, as well as the future Apache helicopters,” said Brigadier General Artur Kuptel, head of Poland’s Armament Agency.