Helicopter Power Plant Current Requirements and Developments

Current and future helicopter requirements demand the use of gas turbine engines. This the Navy believes. Surely, the reciprocating engine will continue to be used in both present day and some future helicopters for specialized missions. However, no reciprocating engine development of major importance is planned to meet these installations. That is, we are forced into waiting for the development of gas turbine engines to power the next crop of helicopters. The Navy believes that the gas turbine will be widely used in almost every class of helicopters - training, observation, liason, utility, ASW, and transport. (At least for the present, in its evaluation phase, the one-man helicopter or rotocycle must be confined to the reciprocating engine).