Technology: Engine design Turkey new manufacturing hub
Turkey steps closer to becoming manufacturing center for engine design
Turkey is on its way to becoming a design and manufacturing center for all types of engines, especially in aviation, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said as the country moved closer to mass production of local turboshaft engines. helicopters.
"With these projects, we are entering a new era in the defense industry," Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Saturday at the award ceremony for Turkey's first indigenous helicopter engine and the opening of a new one. design center via live video link from Vahdettin mansion in Istanbul. .
Designed and developed by engineers at Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) engine manufacturing subsidiary TUSAŞ Engine Industries (TEI), the TEI-TS1400 Turbine Engine was designed for the country's first native T625 multirole helicopter named Gökbey.
The TEI will become a model in Turkey with its planned investments in an engine development project, Erdoğan said.
A 6 ton twin-engine helicopter designed for high mission flexibility even in the harshest geographic environments and adverse weather conditions was developed in response to growing market demand for higher mission flexibility in this class .
The T625 is being developed under the original helicopter program, coordinated by the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB).
The T625 prototype previously used a pair of LHTEC turboshaft engines, CTS800 4-AT, with an output of 1,373 horsepower each, jointly created by Rolls-Royce and Honeywell.
Several tests of the TEI engine, which produces 1,660 horsepower, were carried out during the ceremony. The project was launched in 2017.
"With every step we take, we see once again that in the geography we live in, we cannot look forward to our future with confidence without having a strong defense industry," Erdoğan said.
"We plan to put in place a stronger coordination system through our defense industries presidency and executive committee," added the president.
"In the economic policies that we carry out, we focus on medium and long term objectives in industry, as in all areas."
The TS1400 is also expected to be used on HÜRKUŞ trainer aircraft and the T129 Tactical and Attack Reconnaissance Helicopter (ATAK), as well as its derivatives developed by TAI.
TEI's Turbine Engine Development Project (TEDP) aims to reduce dependence on foreign sources while enabling domestic production of engine systems, which are one of the most important components of these projects and in increasing the percentage of local production in these projects.
TEI: critical player
With almost 35 years of technical know-how, solid infrastructure and skilled workforce, TEI carries out various engine and engine projects for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), helicopters and missiles.
It now manufactures over 1,500 different parts for 50 different aircraft engines in use around the world. The company is the world's largest supplier of LEAP engines that power the Airbus A320neo, Boeing 737 MAX and Comac C919.
TEI has developed 10 engine projects - four diesel engines, two gasoline engines and four jet fuel engines - over the past six years, remaining competitive worldwide.
"Turkey has now overcome the problem of engine technology," said TEI Managing Director Mahmut Faruk Akşit.
“Five of these engines were produced in series. They have been manufactured and delivered. We have engines that have successfully flown in the sky for over 30,000 hours. Series production negotiations for two of the engines are continuing. One is the engine of Gökbey. time, mass production negotiations for the TJ300 engine are currently ongoing, ”Akşit added.
"I hope that with this engine, Turkey will join Germany, the British and French League, namely the Champions League in aviation," he added.
The company produces T-70 helicopter engines as part of its Turkish Utility Helicopter Program (TUHP), using the T700-TEI-701D nameplate.
It manufactures the engines under license from General Electric, with more than 50% of the parts supplied locally. Final assembly and testing is carried out at its facilities in the central province of Eskişehir.
The T-70 multi-role utility helicopters were custom designed, based on the S-70i Black Hawk helicopter from Sikorsky Aircraft, a Lockheed Martin company.
It has also developed TEI-PD170 engines, designed for new generation drones like Anka, Akıncı and Aksungur, the country's first two-stroke aviation engine, TEI-PG50 and the first anti-ship cruise missile engine. medium range TEI-TJ300.
Engine to reduce import bill by $ 60 million
Once Turkey starts mass-producing its own turbine-powered helicopter engines, it will avoid annual high-tech imports worth $ 60 million, Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa said Varank.
“Today we are witnessing a historic day for our defense industry,” Varank said in his speech at the ceremony.
Stressing that the country is meeting its goals of acquiring advanced design technology and skills through its national technology movement, Varank said the engine has been fully designed, developed and produced by TEI engineers and technicians in just three years.
Turkey is one of the seven countries with gas turbine engine technology, he said. "The new design center that will manufacture the local engines will be the starting point for our further successes."
Varank said that while the value per kilogram of average Turkish exports is currently $ 1.50 (TL 11.70), that figure exceeds $ 50 in the defense industry.
“The export value of our first domestic helicopter engine, the TS1400, is $ 6,000 per kilogram,” he added.
Source:- Flash News and News Agencies