A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.
A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part and are, in the direction of flow:
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is an Indian public sector aerospace and defence company, headquartered in Bangalore. Established on 23 December 1940, HAL is one of the oldest and largest aerospace and defence manufacturers in the world. HAL began aircraft manufacturing as early as 1942 with licensed production of Harlow PC-5, Curtiss P-36 Hawk and Vultee A-31 Vengeance for the Indian Air Force. HAL currently has 11 dedicated Research and development (R&D) centres and 21 manufacturing divisions under 4 production units spread across India. HAL is managed by a board of directors appointed by the President of India through the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. In 2024, the company was given Maharatna status. HAL is currently involved in designing and manufacturing of fighter jets, helicopters, jet engine and marine gas turbine engine, avionics, hardware development, spares supply, overhauling and upgrading of Indian military aircraft.
The Rolls-Royce Turbomeca RTM322 is a turboshaft engine currently produced by Safran Helicopter Engines. The RTM322 was originally conceived and manufactured by Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Limited, a joint venture between Rolls-Royce and Turbomeca. The engine was designed to suit a wide range of military and commercial helicopter designs. The RTM322 can also be employed in maritime and industrial applications.
The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 is a turboprop aircraft engine produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada. Its design was started in 1958, it first ran in February 1960, first flew on 30 May 1961, entered service in 1964, and has been continuously updated since. The PT6 consists of two basic sections: a gas generator with accessory gearbox, and a free-power turbine with reduction gearbox. In aircraft, the engine is often mounted "backwards," with the intake at the rear and the exhaust at the front, so that the turbine is directly connected to the propeller. Many variants of the PT6 have been produced, not only as turboprops but also as turboshaft engines for helicopters, land vehicles, hovercraft, and boats; as auxiliary power units; and for industrial uses. By November 2015, 51,000 had been produced, which had logged 400 million flight hours from 1963 to 2016. It is known for its reliability, with an in-flight shutdown rate of 1 per 651,126 hours in 2016. The PT6A turboprop engine covers the power range between 580 and 1,940 shp, while the PT6B/C are turboshaft variants for helicopters.
The LHTEC T800 is a turboshaft engine for rotary wing applications. It is produced by the LHTEC, a joint venture between Rolls-Royce and Honeywell. The commercial and export version is the CTS800. The engine was primarily developed for the United States Army's cancelled RAH-66 Comanche armed reconnaissance helicopter, but has found use in other applications.
The Allison T56 is an American single-shaft, modular design military turboprop with a 14-stage axial flow compressor driven by a four-stage turbine. It was originally developed by the Allison Engine Company for the Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport entering production in 1954. It has been a Rolls-Royce product since 1995 when Allison was acquired by Rolls-Royce. The commercial version is designated 501-D. Over 18,000 engines have been produced since 1954, logging over 200 million flying hours.
The Rolls-Royce Gnome is a British turboshaft engine originally developed by the de Havilland Engine Company as a licence-built General Electric T58, an American mid-1950s design. The Gnome came to Rolls-Royce after their takeover of Bristol Siddeley in 1966, Bristol having absorbed de Havilland Engines Limited in 1961.
The GTRE GTX-35VS Kaveri is an afterburning turbofan project under development by the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), a lab under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Bengaluru, India. An Indian design, the Kaveri was originally intended to power production models of the HAL Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. However, the Kaveri programme failed to satisfy the necessary technical requirements on time and was officially delinked from the Tejas programme in September 2008.
The General Electric GE38 is a gas turbine developed by GE Aviation for turboprop and turboshaft applications. It powers the Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion as the T408.
The Turbomeca Artouste is an early French turboshaft engine, first run in 1947. Originally conceived as an auxiliary power unit (APU), it was soon adapted to aircraft propulsion, and found a niche as a powerplant for turboshaft-driven helicopters in the 1950s. Artoustes were licence-built by Bristol Siddeley in the UK, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in India, and developed by Continental CAE in the US as the Continental T51. Two major versions of the Artouste were produced. The Artouste II family, mainly used in the Aérospatiale Alouette II helicopter, had a one-stage centrifugal compressor and a two-stage turbine, with gearbox-limited power of 300 kW (400 hp). The Artouste III family, mainly used in Aérospatiale's Alouette III and Lama helicopters, had a two-stage axial-centrifugal compressor and a three-stage turbine, with gearbox-limited power of 420–440 kW (560–590 hp).
Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) is a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Located in Bengaluru, its primary function is research and development of aero gas-turbines for Military aircraft. As a spin-off effect, GTRE has been developing marine gas-turbines also.
The Safran Ardiden is a 1,400–2,000 hp (1,000–1,500 kW) turboshaft designed and produced by Safran Helicopter Engines for 5–8 t (11,000–18,000 lb) single and twin-engine helicopters. Launched in 2003 as a more powerful TM 333, it first ran in 2005 and was introduced in 2007.
The HAL Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), along with its derivative, Light Observation Helicopter (LOH), was designed and developed by the Rotary Wing Research and Design Center (RWR&DC), one of the R&D sections of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), for civilian and military applications. These are intended to replace license-built versions of Aérospatiale SA 315B Lama (designated Cheetah) and Aérospatiale Alouette III (designated Chetak) in service with the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force.
The Indian Multi Role Helicopter (IMRH) is a medium-lift helicopter currently under development by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Armed Forces. It is designed for multiple roles, air assault, air-attack, anti-submarine, anti-surface, military transport and VIP transport roles. IMRH is aimed to replace all the current Mil Mi-17 and Mil Mi-8 helicopters across the Indian Armed Forces.
A free-turbine turboshaft is a form of turboshaft or turboprop gas turbine engine where the power is extracted from the exhaust stream of a gas turbine by an independent turbine, downstream of the gas turbine. The power turbine is not mechanically connected to the turbines that drive the compressors, hence the term "free", referring to the independence of the power output shaft. This is opposed to the power being extracted from the turbine/compressor shaft via a gearbox.
The HAL HTFE-25 is a 25 kN turbofan engine under development by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The engine can be used in single engine trainer jets, business jets and UAVs weighing up to 5 tonnes and in twin engine configuration for same weighing up to 9 tonnes. Based on the technical feasibility, the market potential for engine is of 200-250 units.
The Safran Arrano is a turboshaft engine for two-to-three ton single-engine and four-to-six ton twin-engine helicopters, developed by Safran Helicopter Engines, outputting 1,100 to 1,300 hp.
The Allison T56 turboprop engine has been developed extensively throughout its production run, the many variants are described by the manufacturer as belonging to four main series groups.
The GMWhirlfire gas turbine engines were developed in the 1950s by the research division of General Motors Corporation and fitted to concept vehicles, including the Firebird concept cars, Turbo-Cruiser buses, and Turbo-Titan trucks through the 1960s. They are free-turbine turboshaft machines with two spools: one compressor/gasifier turboshaft and one power/output turboshaft sharing a common axis without a mechanical coupling between them. Fuel consumption of the first-generation GT-300 was high compared to piston engines, so thermal wheel regenerators were added to the second-generation GT-304, cutting consumption by approximately 1⁄2.
