Ramona Adams
U.S. Army leaders have told House members that one of the service branch’s top modernization priorities is to update the turbine engines of Black Hawk and Apache helicopters, DoD Buzz reported Thursday.
The potential $10 billion Improved Turbine Engine Program seeks to replace the T700 family of engines and is one of the reasons behind proposed defense budget increases for fiscal 2018, Matthew Cox wrote.
Army officials said at a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on readiness that ITEP will work to boost the lift capacity of Black Hawk and Apache aircraft as part of the military branch’s Future Vertical Lift Program.
The Army said in August 2016 that ITEP is slated to enter the technology maturation and risk reduction phase of the Defense Department‘s acquisition framework.
ITEP will be implemented in 2,135 Black Hawks built by Lockheed Martin‘s Sikorsky subsidiary as well as 684 Boeing-made Apaches, Cox reported.
The Army awarded ITEP preliminary design review contracts worth $154 million to Advanced Turbine Engine Co. and $102 million to General Electric in 2016.
