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Sustainable aviation fuel has been successfully tested in a military helicopter flight by France.
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The “used cooking oil”-based fuel was produced by French energy company TotalEnergies and trialled in one engine of an NH90 twin-engine, multi-role military helicopter on 3 February.
The plan was implemented by French defence procurement agency Direction Générale de l’Armement with support from Safran Helicopter Engines and Airbus Helicopters.
Safran Helicopter Engines, heavy helicopter engines programs head Christian Caneilles said it marks a first for a military helicopter with such high content of SAF, and without any engine modification.
“This is an important step in our roadmap for the large-scale deployment of SAF, which will kickstart a decarbonisation process within the armed forces to gradually reduce the use of fossil fuels.”
The sustainable aviation fuel used has a carbon footprint four times smaller than that of a fossil fuel and meets 65 per cent abatement requirements for sustainable fuels set by the European Union.
A bench test at Safran Helicopter Engines’ Bordes facility validated the use of the fuel on the RTM322 in December last year.
Caneilles said turbine range is already certified to run on 50 per cent SAF and when a 100 per cent incorporation level is achieved, it will offer a potential CO2 emission reduction of 80 per cent.
