Safran Helicopter Engines has received EASA type certification for its Ardiden 3C turboshaft engine. Known as the WZ16 in China, the engine will power the Avicopter AC352 and was jointly developed and built by Safran Helicopter Engines, Dongan, and Hapri, parts of the Aero Engine Corporation of China consortium. Certification from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is expected in September 2019.

The Ardiden 3C/WZ16, which will be the first helicopter engine to be certified by both CAAC and EASA, is a new-generation turboshaft in the 1,700- to 2,000-shp power class. According to Safran, it offers 10 percent lower fuel consumption than current engines in its class.

Safran's Ardiden 3C flight-test campaign started in December 2016 with the AC352’s maiden flight. Another variant, the Ardiden 3G, has also been selected by Russian Helicopters to power its Ka-62, which made its first flight in May 2017. Since first ground tests of its two variants, the Ardiden 3 has accumulated more than 10,000 hours of trials.

The AC352 is the Chinese-manufactured version of the Airbus Helicopters H175. The H175 was jointly developed by Airbus Helicopters and Avicopter, with Avicopter responsible for manufacturing the fuselage and certain subassemblies. The AC352 can be sold only in China and a small number of countries close to China where Airbus would be unlikely to sell any H175s.