The Italian aircraft and engine-parts manufacturer Piaggio Aerospace and the French company Safran Helicopter Engines have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to cooperate on the production of the Ardiden 3 aeroengine family. The agreement covers the manufacture of critical parts for the variants of the Ardiden 3 family, both for turbopropulsor (Ardiden 3TP) and helicopter applications.

Piaggio Aerospace and Safran Helicopter Engines already collaborate on the RTM322 and Aneto engine families for production of hot section parts of the engines.

The Ardiden 3 is a new-generation core engine in the 1,700 to 2,000 shaft horsepower range. With two EASA-certified models, the Ardiden 3 features a remarkably compact modular architecture, a best-in-class power-to-weight ratio and a low cost-of-ownership. The turbopropulsor version, Ardiden 3TP, is developed through the Tech TP technological demonstrator of Clean Sky 2 research and innovation program. The Ardiden 3TP offers 15% lower fuel consumption over current turboprops engines.

The agreement strengthens the European team built around the Ardiden 3TP for general, regional and military turboprop applications, which already includes Safran Helicopter Engines,  ZF Aviation Technology (ZF Luftfahrttechnik – Germany) and ITP Aero (Spain).

“We are proud to enlarge the collaboration with Piaggio Aerospace as a partner for our Ardiden 3 engine. Particularly with the Ardiden 3TP, we are committed to deliver a 100% European engine featuring high levels of design maturity and competitive operating and maintenance costs. It will be designed, built and supported by highly-experienced teams using state-of-the-art industrial capabilities in Italy, Germany, Spain and France,” commented Florent Chauvancy, Safran Helicopter Engines EVP OEM Sales

Vincenzo Nicastro, extraordinary commissioner of Piaggio Aerospace, said, “Our engines business unit, with its highly qualified personnel and vast client portfolio, represents an excellence of the aerospace industry, both in the civil and defense sectors. Joining the Ardiden3 program and the Ardiden3TP European team is of strategic value for Piaggio Aerospace: I am sure  the company will be able to bring its expertise on this new engine and to all its future applications.”

This press release was prepared and distributed by Safran Helicopter Engines.