Powering Up: GE Aerospace Accelerates T901 Engine Development for the U.S. Military

For more than a century, GE Aerospace has led the world in advancing military aviation technology, adapting to meet the evolving nature of global threats. From propulsion systems that power faster, higher-flying aircraft to engines that extend the reach and capability of helicopters, the company's innovations have kept pace with increasingly complex missions. The T901 engine, selected by the U.S. Army to enhance the power and performance of its fleet, is just one example.

In June 2026, GE Aerospace's next-generation rotorcraft engine, the T901, earned its Preliminary Flight Rating (PFR) - a major milestone on its path to the flight line and, ultimately, to providing warfighters with a more powerful, more capable engine.

"The PFR is the Army's formal acceptance that the T901 engine meets the requirements for flight testing," says Paul Ferraro, vice president and general manager of Defense Engines & Services at GE Aerospace. "Think about what that means. The U.S. Army looked at the engine we built and said it's safe, it's reliable, and it's ready to fly. This is the most critical milestone in the history of the program."

At its core, PFR is a confirmation of safety. It clears the T901 engine to move from development testing into formal qualification, or "for credit" flight testing, the next major step on the path to getting the engine into the hands of warfighters.

That path traces back to 2019, when the U.S. Army selected the T901 engine to modernize its workhorse UH-60 Black Hawk and AH-64 Apache helicopter fleets, for reasons that are now proving out in testing: 50% more power than its predecessor, the T700 engine; significantly improved fuel efficiency; innovative new materials; streamlined construction; and a significantly improved specific fuel consumption (SFC).

"Every milestone gets us closer to delivering capability to the warfighter, but here's why it all matters: The T700 engine is already best in class, and GE Aerospace just built its successor," Ferraro says.

These compelling stats become even more pivotal when deployed in a military operation. They translate to extended range, greater payload for troops or munitions, better maneuverability, improved survivability in contested environments, a greater ability to loiter over targets, and a reduced need for refueling on long-range missions. "For the pilots who fly it, that's not an upgrade - it's a step change in capability," Ferraro adds.

"It means more missions completed and more soldiers brought home," says Breanne Escalante, general manager of rotorcraft and turboprop engines at GE Aerospace.

"We've been at this for a bit now," says Escalante. "We've validated the performance of the T901 and demonstrated all the engine's key performance parameters. We've done over 2,900 hours of factory-engine tests and achieved flight altitudes of 17,000 feet, and airspeeds of 150 knots. The engine's first hover flight was last May, and its first forward flight a few months later. So far, we've delivered seven flight test engines to the government. It has been integrated into the Black Hawk, and we've been flight testing it in Florida since last year."

Delivering all of this at a reduced sustainment cost reflects GE Aerospace's long-term commitment to the modern warfighter.

Working Faster, Reducing Costs

While the U.S. Army Transformation Initiative, announced in May 2025, included sweeping changes in funding, it also provided GE Aerospace with an opportunity to engage directly with the most senior Army leadership and to chart a path forward.

"We worked with the Army leadership to propose some opportunities to get this capability qualified and delivered quicker and at lower cost," Ferraro says. "And I'm happy to say that in collaborating with the Army and Sikorsky, we've been able to take 12 months out of the schedule and save approximately $75 million in costs of getting the engine qualified. We continue to work, each and every day, with our Army customer to execute on this program and find ways to do it quicker and faster. And we continue to raise these opportunities as they come up."

With bipartisan support in Congress, the U.S. House and Senate voted in 2026 to provide $175 million in funding for the Army's Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP), the program for which GE Aerospace developed the T901 engine. The House Armed Services Committee added an additional $63 million in a reconciliation package that underscored strong legislative support for this critical modernization effort. In 2025, GE Aerospace announced plans to invest more than $200 million in the U.S. manufacturing sites that will play a large role in the production of the T901 engine. And earlier this year, it announced another $275 million investment in those same sites. Over the past three years, the company has invested more than $600 million in manufacturing to support its Defense programs.

"We're proud of the confidence our customers and lawmakers have placed in us," says Bill Morris, executive director of government affairs at GE Aerospace and a former U.S. Army Black Hawk pilot. "We're matching that commitment by investing in our facilities and advancing the capabilities that will power the warfighter for decades to come."

Once the program is in full swing, GE Aerospace expects the Army to purchase as many as 200 engines a year. "We're getting our domestic manufacturing sites ready for the ramp-up ahead," Escalante says.

More Power with Less Weight

Because the T901 engine's design draws on a stack of advanced technologies, scaling up production means investing in advanced machinery and specialized tooling. Ceramic matrix composite (CMC) parts, which are stronger than metal at high temperatures and weigh two-thirds less, significantly boost the T901 engine's fuel efficiency. (The first commercial engine to incorporate CMCs was the CFM LEAP, made by CFM International, a 50-50 joint company between GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines.)

The T901 engine incorporates numerous 3D-printed components. These parts are manufactured as one unit, reducing the number of welds, brazes, and bolted joints, which improves producibility and durability. By reducing the overall number of parts using additively printed parts - including the front frame, which shrank some 200 parts down to one - the design delivers more power with less weight, enabling the U.S. military to support more soldiers and engage more targets over longer ranges.

"GE Aerospace is a long-cycle business and we're in it for the long haul," says Escalante. "We've been committed to this program for quite some time because we know the capability it brings to the warfighter. We've got a lot of momentum and we're looking forward to getting it over the goal line."