Safran Helicopter Engines has received European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) type certification approval for its Aneto-1K engine, as fitted to the Leonardo Helicopters AW189K, following a flight-test campaign that began in March 2017. The Aneto family produces between 2,500 and 3,000 shp and is intended for super-medium and heavy helicopters.
Rated at 2,500 shp, the -1K has a power-to-volume ratio that produces 25 percent more thermal power that existing and similarly rated engines. Safran said this will expand the envelope of missions helicopters, such as the AW189K, can perform in applications—including offshore transport, search and rescue, firefighting, law enforcement, and military transport—that demand increased hot-and-high power margins and assured performance in the transitory regime.
The -1K’s maintenance regime has been optimized with fewer scheduled tasks and longer service intervals, connected features including health monitoring, and full compatibility with Boost, Safran’s online engine configuration, and maintenance management service.
“Certification represents a major milestone for the Aneto program, which will deliver best-in-class solutions for super-medium and heavy helicopters. It reflects the excellent performance demonstrated by the engine during its development phase. After an intensive and rigorous test campaign of more than 5,000 hours, on the ground and in-flight, the Aneto-1K is now ready to support AW189K entry-into-service,” said Christian Caneilles, Safran v-p for heavy helicopter engine programs.