Safran underscores its products and services for helicopters in the U.S. at Heli-Expo 2016

March 1, 2016

Solutions offered by Safran for rotary-wing aircraft manufacturers and operators – including a number of “made in the U.S.” products and services – are being highlighted at this week’s Heli-Expo 2016 trade show in Louisville, Kentucky, which is one of the helicopter industry’s largest gatherings.

The Safran exhibit at Heli-Expo 2016 (Booth #10543 in the Kentucky Exposition Center) covers a full range of its business units’ equipment and systems, from turboshaft engines and e-auxiliary power units to flight controls, gyros and display systems.

Among the helicopter industry products featured on Safran’s Heli-Expo 2016 stand are Turbomeca’s Arriel-family turboshaft engines, which power such rotorcraft as the U.S. Army UH-72A Lakota and the U.S. Coast Guard’s H-65 Dolphin family. The latest Arrius engine – the Arrius 2R version, selected for the new Bell Helicopters 505 Jet Ranger X – also is being showcased during the industry gathering.  

Turbomeca has a 152,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility at Grand Prairie, Texas, which assembles, overhauls and maintains the company’s engines, while also providing training solutions. More than 2,300 Turbomeca engines are flying in the U.S. on helicopters operated by government agencies, federal and state law enforcement organizations, emergency medical services, off-shore airlift providers and corporations.

Sagem products on display at Heli-Expo 2016 include a new-generation active side-stick unit; attitude, heading and reference systems (AHRS) incorporating fiber optic gyros; and flight control systems. Sagem equipment is used on a range of U.S. rotorcraft, including those from Bell Helicopter and Sikorsky. This Safran business unit is present at Grand Prairie and in Costa Mesa, California, along with other U.S. locations through its subsidiaries.

Also participating in Heli-Expo 2016 is Safran’s Microturbo business unit, which is showing the e-APU60 – an auxiliary power unit designed to meet the requirements of new generation helicopters and business aircraft that are increasingly electric. In the U.S., Microturbo has operations at Grand Prairie, and San Diego, California.

“It is highly appropriate that this year’s Heli-Expo show is in the state of Kentucky – where Safran continues to bring added value through its U.S. presence,” explained Peter Lengyel, CEO and President of Safran USA. “As examples, Safran’s Messier-Bugatti-Dowty business unit has just announced the seventh expansion of its Walton, Kentucky plant for aircraft carbon brakes, while Morpho provides automated fingerprint identification services to Kentucky police and also manufacturers the state’s driver licenses.”