Engine Used On A330 Airliners... And The KC-30 Tanker

GE Aviation's CF6-80E1 engine, used on the Airbus A330 widebody twinjet, recently completed one million takeoff and landing cycles... and Northrop Grumman says that's very good news, indeed.

The CF6-80E1 engine was designed specifically for the Airbus A330-200 and -300 platforms, and powers more than 140 aircraft in operation today with 18 operators worldwide.

Northrop Grumman -- which, along with EADS, is fielding the A330-derived KC-30 Tanker in competition for a lucrative US Air Force tanker contract -- says the recent milestone shows the CF6-80E1 would prove equally reliable in military service, as well.

"The GE CF6-80E1 engine is perfectly suited to power the KC-30 Tanker as illustrated by this significant milestone," said Paul Meyer, Northrop Grumman vice president and general manager of the KC-30 Tanker program. "The KC-30 offers the lowest risk for the Air Force's tanker replacement program because we continue to leverage proven, reliable and efficient systems for our tanker."

GE's CF6 engine has been among the most utilized and reliable jet engines, powering more than 10 models of widebody aircraft. The engine has compiled more than 300 million flight-hours in service with more than 250 customers worldwide.

"Since entering service in 1994, the CF6-80E1 engine has proven to be extremely reliable for our customers, and we are very excited to celebrate the one million cycles achievement," said Colleen Athans, general manager of the CF6 Program for GE.

Northrop also notes over 82 percent of the CF6-80E1 propulsion system parts are manufactured in the United States... a point worth mentioning, as the company fields the largely foreign-sourced KC-30 against Boeing's 767-derived KC-767.

FMI: www.geae.com, www.northropgrumman.com, www.eads.com