This is a Garrett Turbine ATF3 jet engine, it was originally fitted to a 1984 Dassault-Breguet Mystere Falcon 200, and it could produce up to 5,440 lbf of thrust.
The Garrett Turbine ATF3 had an interesting service life, it was largely used in private jets but it was also used in the Northrop Tacit Blue technology demonstrator aircraft and the unmanned Ryan YQM-98 R-Tern developmental aerial reconnaissance drone.
One of the aircraft fitted with the Garrett Turbine ATF3 jet engine was the Dassault HU-25 Guardian. It was developed for the US Coast Guard and used as a high-speed spotter aircraft to intercept aerial and shipborne drug trafficking among other tasks. Image courtesy of John Davies – CYOW Airport Watch under the GNU Free Documentation License.
The Garrett Turbine ATF3 was unusual as the core flow path is reversed twice and the exhaust is mixed with bypass air before exiting the rear of the engine, as a result, the engine had a very low infrared signature and the hot turbine was not externally visible. This made the engine ideal for use in stealth applications.
When the Northrop Tacit Blue stealth demonstrator aircraft was being tested, the crew of a U-2 high altitude chase plane reported that they couldn’t detect the aircraft with either their radar or infrared sensors.
The ATF3 was developed at the California division of Garrett AiResearch, it’s a three-spool turbofan engine with a dry weight of 1,125 lbs (510 kgs), a single stage low pressure fan, a five- stage intermediate pressure axial compressor, and a single-stage, high-pressure centrifugal compressor.
The engine proved reliable, and was used extensively by Dassault Aviation, a highly-regarded French manufacturer of both military aircraft and business jets. The ATF3 was used in the Dassault Falcon 20G, Dassault Falcon 200, and the Dassault HU-25 Guardian.
Interestingly, the Dassault HU-25 Guardian was developed for the US Coast Guard, it was used as a high-speed spotter aircraft to intercept aerial and shipborne drug trafficking. It was also used to find shipwreck survivors, sailor in distress, and to direct slower-moving aircraft and rescue vessels to the survivors.
The Garrett Turbine ATF3 jet engine you see here was initially fitted to a Mystere Falcon 200 and it’s now being sold in non-running condition.
The Garrett Turbine ATF3 jet engine you see here was initially fitted to a Mystere Falcon 200 and it’s now being sold in non-running condition. It’s important to note that this engine is no longer be suitable for use in aircraft, but it could potentially be rebuilt and used in land-based vehicles – like land speed racers.
If you’d like to read more about this engine or enquire about buying it you can find the eBay listing here. It’s being sold out of Leesburg, Florida with an asking price of $35,950.95 USD.
Images courtesy of Flying Colors Air Parts
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
