GE Aerospace stated in a presentation for the 2024 GE Aerospace Investor Day that Baykar’s AKINCI UCAV is to be supplied with 800 hp H80 turboprop engines.
GE, together with Italy-based Avio Aero, is integrating and supplying H80 turboprop engines with a power rating of 800 hp.
It is known that AKINCI-C performed its maiden flight, equipped with a pair of 850 hp engines, in early 2024. H85 in the H80 series of turboprops yield this exact power rating.
The H80 series is similar to the long-standing P&W Canada’s PT6 family of turboprop engines in terms of power class, but a newer design brings some advantages to the table. FlightGlobal previously reported that new technologies, such as cooled turbine blades increasing the pressure ratio, have contributed to H80’s fuel efficiency.
GE and Avio Aero’s involvement hints at one of the differences for the AKINCI UCAVs to be produced by Piaggio Aerosapce, which has been acquired by Baykar and will be jointly modified by LBA Systems with Leonardo’s payloads.
Author: Kaan Azman
Editor: Özgür Ekşi
