| U.S. Army’s selection of GE Aviation engine big win for Vermont Rutland site will produce and test key components of new helicopter engine EVENDALE, Ohio | February 5, 2019 The U.S. Army’s selection of GE Aviation’s T901-GE-900 engine for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase of the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP) is a big win for the state of Vermont. GE’s advanced manufacturing facility in Rutland, VT, will have a major role to play in producing key parts for this engine. The T901 is GE Aviation’s engine for ITEP, the U.S. Army’s undertaking to re-engine its Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawks and Boeing AH-64 Apaches. For more than three decades, GE Aviation’s ultra-reliable T700 engine has been powering missions for Apaches, Black Hawks and other military aircraft programs, accumulating more than 100 million flight hours. In its successful bid for the $517 million US Army ITEP contract, GE Aviation proved the benefit of incorporating advanced technology and top-of-the-line materials from sites like Rutland in the T901 engine.
“We are honored to be chosen by the Army to continue powering their Black Hawks and Apaches for decades to come,” said Tony Mathis, president and CEO of GE Aviation’s military business. “We’ve invested in the resources and infrastructure to execute immediately, and our team is ready to get to work on delivering the improved capabilities of the T901 to the Warfighter.”
The Vermont facility has long played a significant role in GE Aviation’s supply chain, producing fan blades and compressor airfoils for commercial and military engines since the Ludlow, VT, plant opened in 1951. The Rutland plant opened soon after in 1957. Now employing more than 1,200 people in a variety of high-skill, high-technology jobs, Rutland currently produces key components for more than 15 of GE’s most popular engine programs. These components include compressor airfoils, compressor vanes, fan blades and turbine airfoils, which can be found on all current production GE commercial and military engines. In the past decade, GE has invested around $100 million and increased employment by a third in Rutland to keep pace with a record-setting engine backlog.
GE has invested $9 billion in maturing technologies applicable to the T901 and more than $300 million to develop and test turboshaft-specific technologies. Additionally, GE has invested more than $10 billion in their supply chain over the past decade. GE Aviation Rutland is one of several facilities across the country that has been part of that investment and stands to benefit from the ITEP decision. This robust, first-in-class supply chain stands ready to deliver T901 engines to the Army.
The full modularity of the T901’s single-spool core provides the Army with superior fix-forward maintainability. Combat units can swap out modular parts of the engine in the field and travel with fewer full-sized spare engines, simplifying logistical footprints and supply lines. The fully modular design also offers superior growth potential at a lower cost through incremental improvements to engine modules, a significant advantage to meet the Army’s FVL requirements. The U.S. Army is also expecting the ITEP engine to meet Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft requirements for Future Vertical Lift (FVL).
ABOUT GE AVIATION GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE (NYSE: GE), is a world-leading provider of jet and turboprop engines, components, integrated digital, avionics, electrical power and mechanical systems for commercial, military, business and general aviation aircraft. GE Aviation has a global service network to support these offerings and is part of the world’s Digital Industrial Company with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive. For more information, visit us at http://www.ge.com/aviation. Follow GE Aviation on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GEAviation and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/GEAviation.
For more information, contact: Dave Wilson DavidJon.Wilson@ge.com 206-660-4462 |
