Leading provider of jet and turboprop engines General Electric Aviation has been selected by the Kingdom of Morocco to supply T700 turboshaft engines for It’s new fleet of Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters.
Part of the business will see General Electric delivering 48 T700-701D engines and two spare parts for the 24 Apaches set to be supplied to Morocco.
The Moroccan government ordered 24 Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters in June this year, with delivery expected to commence in 2024. The United States first received the request for the Apaches in August 2019, estimated to worth $1.5 billion.
Boeing will build and deliver the new Moroccan Apaches under a contract with the U.S. Army through the U.S. government’s Foreign Military Sales process.
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 U.S. Army through the U.S. government’s Foreign Military Sales process. In 2019, the U.S. Army awarded GE an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract for the continued production of T700 engines in support of Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and other government agency program requirements through 2024. The production contract is valued at over $1B (USD) for as many as 1,700 T700 engines if completely exercised.