In October, the turboshaft 16 engine jointly developed by the China Aviation Development Group and the French Safran Group has obtained the type certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). This is also the first international cooperative aviation engine fully certified by the Civil Aviation Administration of China . The engine's power reached 1,500 kilowatts, which surpassed the PT6C-67C turboshaft engine produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada. The modular design and dual-channel full authority digital electronic control (FADEC) make this engine has the advantages of high reliability, ease of use, and low fuel consumption.
In November, China and France signed another memorandum agreement to strengthen the industrial cooperation of turboshaft 16 engines. According to the disclosed memorandum agreement, China Aviation Development Group and Safran Helicopter Engine Company agreed:
Ø Establish a joint venture in China to strengthen the support, maintenance and experience learning of turboshaft 16 engines in service;
Ø Prepare and start manufacturing turboshaft 16 engines, and complete the delivery of the first batch of 120 engines, and discuss the opportunity to increase the manufacturing of 100 units;
Ø Discuss the new application of turboshaft 16 engine and change its "shaft to propeller" into a turboprop engine variant to support the application of fixed-wing aircraft.
The turboshaft 16 engine is also known as Ardiden3C (French name). It is a new generation turboshaft engine with an output of 1,700~2,000 shaft horsepower. The Ardiden 3C was also approved by the European Civil Aviation Administration in Europe in April 2018. EASA certification. The first flight of the AC352 helicopter, the installed target of the engine, was completed in December 2016, and certification is planned for 2021.