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Contact:

Julian Diaz Goicuria

ITP

Contact details:

juliandg@itp.es

(+34) 944662100

2005/4/20

First trials for the TP400-D6 engine to be in 2005

Industria de Turbo Propulsores S.A. (ITP) is responsible for the TP400-D6 Low Pressure Turbine which will propel the European AIRBUS A400M military transport plane, involving the main engine structures and external ducting. They have a 20.6% participation in the programme, together with British Rolls Royce (25%), the German MTU Aero Engines (22.2%) and the French Snecma Moteurs (32.2%).

The Engine specifications

The TP400-D6 is a tri-axle turbo-propulsion engine with a maximum power of 11,000 shp (shaft horsepower = 746 watt), making it the most powerful in the western world. Its technology derives from the Snecma M88 programmes, the Rolls Royce Trent engines and the EUROJET EJ200 engine programme. The first engine trials will take place in August 2005 and the first flight is projected for September 2007. The life of the contract is estimated between 30 and 40 years.

Moreover, Ignacio Mataix, Director General of Industria de Turbo Propulsores, S. A. (ITP), has recently been appointed President of the European aeronautics consortium, Europrop International (EPI), with overall responsibility for the TP400-D6 engine which will drive the European AIRBUS A400M military transport plane.

European perspective

At a strategic level, opting in 2003 in favour of the European engine against the competition from Pratt & Whitney Canada, meant the definitive consolidation and integration of the engine industry in Europe and the guaranteeing of the supply of a significant part of the plane - the engine -, thus avoiding dependence on North American industry.

The seven European countries involved in the A400M transport programme are planning the initial purchase of 180 four-engined craft, meaning the acquisition of approximately 750 installed engines with spares. Export to other countries could double this figure over the next 20 to 30 years. For ITP this means a consolidation of the low pressure turbine strategy through a presence in both the Civil and the Defence markets.