Sikorsky opts for GE-made engines for Marine Corps helicopter

The Associated Press
Friday, December 22, 2006
STRATFORD, Connecticut

Sikorsky Aircraft, which is building a new class of heavy lift helicopters for the U.S. Marine Corps., has chosen a General Electric division to provide the engines, the company announced Friday.

Sikorsky is subsidiary of the Hartford, Connecticut-based United Technologies and sister company of aircraft-engine maker Pratt & Whitney, a GE competitor. Sikorsky officials said the government contract requires the company to put its subsystems out for bid and GE Aviation came out on top when all the bids were reviewed.

"We are charged with running that competition and working with the Marine Corps," Sikorsky spokesman Ed Steadham said. "There are several criteria. We used that detailed scoring process to assess the offers and this was the engine that best met the criteria."

Steadham would not identify the other bidders or comment on whether Pratt & Whitney was among them. Phone messages were left Friday night for a Pratt & Whitney official in the company's helicopter engine division.

The new three-engine CH-53K helicopter will replace the CH-53E Super Stallion and will be outfitted with the GE38-1B engine, a derivative of the CFE738 commercial turbofan engine and the US Navy T407 turboprop engine, Sikorsky said. The contract with the Marine Corps calls for as many as 156 aircraft, Sikorsky said.

Sikorsky Aircraft: http://www.sikorsky.com
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/23/business/NA_GEN_US_Sikorsky_Contract.php