Jet engine builder Pratt & Whitney agreed to share design and manufacturing of two critical parts of its PurePower PW1400G-JM engine with GKN Aerospace, a Tier 1 supplier of complex composite and metallic aerostructures and engine products, for military and civilian aerospace markets. The “risk and revenue sharing partnership” (RRSP) covers the turbine exhaust case (TEC) and the compressor intermediate case (IMC) for the Irkut MC-21 twin-engine aircraft being developed by Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation.
Engine certification is scheduled to be achieved late this year, and entry into service Is set for late 2017. GKN estimated this RRSP would be worth over $650 million over the life of the program.
Pratt & Whitney and GKN Aerospace last fall agreed to a similar partnership for the PW1900G engine, being developed for the Embraer E-jet 190/195E2, an agreement estimated to be worth over $2.5 billion over its term.
The PW1400G-JM engine reportedly is a design derived from the PW1100G-JM that Pratt & Whitney developed for the Airbus A320neo. GKN Aerospace also has an RRSP with Pratt & Whitney for the same components for the A320neo, and is responsible for the design and manufacture of all TECs and IMCs for Pratt & Whitney's PurePower geared turbofan engines, including the PW1200G, PW1500G, the PW1700G and the PW1900G engines.
The Irkut MC-21 will be a series of three (-200, -300, -400) single-aisle airliners for short-range and mid-range routes and a capacity of 150-212 passengers. The United Aircraft Corp. reportedly has 175 firm orders for the jets, which are seen as an alternative to rival OEMs’ entries, like the Airbus A320neo, Boeing 737 MAX, or Embraer E-Jet E2
"We continue our long-term partnership with Pratt & Whitney, supplying these complex parts for their engines and constantly applying developments in technology to increase performance, reduce weight and material waste, and speed manufacture," stated Mike McCann, CEO of GKN Aerospace, Engine Systems. "Again, this latest RRSP sees us working with Pratt & Whitney from a base of certified parts which helps streamline development, reduce risk, simplify certification and ease maintenance once the aircraft is in service."