Turbomeca to Offer S-76C+ Engine Upgrade Program

Turbomeca (Safran) is a leading manufacturer for helicopter engines and has been in business since 1938. They have produced over 70,000 turbines and offer one of the comprehensive range of helicopter engines on Earth, serving more than 150 countries and over 2,000 clients worldwide.

Turbomeca is ready to introduce a retrofit program to upgrade their Arriel 2S1 powered S-76C+ operators to the new Arriel 2S2 S-76C++ model. Turbomeca’s retrofit will run concurrent with a program that will be introduced by Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky Aircraft. The upgrade is expected to improve mission capabilities specifically aimed at reducing pilot workload and higher payloads all the while increasing take-off and cruising potential. The Arriel 2S2 is eight percent more powerful than its predecessor the Arriel 2S1 delivering 923 shp take-off power, 832 shp cruise power and 1033 shp OEI (One Engine Inoperative) rating.

The Arriel 2S2 was certified in 2005 and features a dual-channel FADEC making it the gold standard in terms of robustness and reliability with an estimated TBO of 3,850 hours. The engine retrofit upgrade is expected to be made available in the second quarter of 2016 and Franck Saudo, Turbomeca Vice-President Support and Services, believes that the upgrade program is going to be met with great excitement as it adds a lot of value along with improved performance for customers of the Arriel 2S2. The Arriel is already the best-selling helicopter engine option in its class and it is estimated that an Arriel-powered helicopter is readying for take-off every fifteen seconds of every day.