LYNN, Mass. - The United States Army has awarded General Electric Company a contract valued at $178 million for 2006 to continue overhaul support of T700 engines at the Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD) and convert engines to the T700-GE-701D configuration in support of the Army's current fleet transformation.
Potential value of the contract to GE over the next five years, based on estimated workload at CCAD, is $1.5 billion.
"We are pleased to continue our relationship with CCAD, and we look forward to helping support the US military customer's fleet transformation," said Ed Birtwell, GE's general manager, Turboshaft /Turboprop Engines. The U.S. Army announced plans to convert to the T700-701D to power its entire Apache and Black Hawk helicopter fleet in 2004.
The award follows a five-year, $668-million CCAD contract that was initiated in 2000. During that time frame, overhaul turntimes have been reduced by 80%, while production capacity has tripled from 500 units per year to 1,600.
The GE-CCAD teaming arrangement has been instrumental in eliminating all engine backlogs during the Iraq conflict, while sustaining a 3X-operating tempo during follow-up missions. Based on this success, GE received the Army's 2004 Material Readiness Contributions Award for a Major Contractor.
The T700-GE-701D features improved hot-section components that provide twice the hot section durability, lower life-cycle costs, and 5% more power than the current T700-GE-701C engine. Rated at 2000 shp, the -701D was awarded U.S. Army qualification in 2004 and is now in production. Initial engines were shipped in December 2004 to power Black Hawk aircraft.
The T700 engine and its civil counterpart, the CT7, have amassed more than 50 million flight-hours powering 21 different aircraft models in service throughout the world. T700-powered aircraft accounted for nearly 70 percent of the U.S. Army's flight-hours in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
GE - Aviation, an operating unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), is one of the world's leading manufacturers of jet engines for civil and military aircraft. GE also is a global provider of maintenance and support services for operators of GE jet engines.