General Electric Aviation will supply T700 turboshaft engines for Morocco’s 24 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, which it ordered in June this year.
Morocco will acquire 48 T700—701D engines and two spares as part of the contract, General Electric said this week.
The T700/CT7 family of turboshaft and turboprop engines power 15 types of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft with more than 130 customers in more than 50 countries. The T700/CT7 family has surpassed 20 000 units delivered and more than 100 million total flight hours. Morocco is the 17th country to acquire the AH-64 Apache, according to Boeing.
“The T700 engine’s 40-plus year track record as a highly reliable, workhorse powerplant is indisputable,” said Ron Hutter, vice president of turboshaft engine sales at GE Aviation. “We are pleased that the Kingdom of Morocco has chosen the T700 and will provide world-class support for these engines.”
The helicopters and engines will be built and delivered under a contract with the US Army through the US government’s Foreign Military Sales process. In 2019, the US Army awarded GE an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract for the continued production of T700 engines in support of US Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and other government agency programme requirements through 2024. The production contract is valued at over $1 billion for as many as 1 700 T700 engines if completely exercised, GE Aviation said.
Current models of the T700/CT7 deliver 2 000-3 000 shaft-horsepower.
In June, the US Department of Defence said Boeing had been awarded a $439 179 677 contract for new-build Apache AH-64E aircraft and Longbow crew trainers for Morocco after requesting the aircraft in late 2019.
Boeing said deliveries are expected to begin in 2024, with the contract expected to conclude by March 2025.