On Thursday, July 30, 2026, the US Army Contracting Command (ACC) at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, acting on behalf of the US Department of Defense, awarded Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, part of Lockheed Martin, a 49,929,599 USD contract to continue integrating new General Electric T901-GE-900 turboshaft engines, designated GE3000 by the manufacturer, with UH/HH-60M Black Hawk multirole helicopters as part of the broader Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP).
General Electric T901-GE-900 / Photo: US Army
The modification increases the contract’s cumulative nominal value to 137,968,024 USD. Work will be performed at Sikorsky’s facilities in Stratford, Connecticut, and is expected to be completed by June 30, 2030. Fiscal year 2026 research, development, test, and evaluation funds covering the full value of the modification were obligated at the time of the award.
Testing of the T901-GE-900 as a replacement for the T700-701C-series engines used in US Army H-60 Black Hawk-family helicopters has been underway since January 2025, when a pair of engines was integrated with a UH-60M. Acceptance of the engines for testing was approved on June 27, 2024, as announced by manufacturer GE Aerospace. They were delivered to the Sikorsky Development Flight Center in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Earlier, in October 2023, GE Aerospace delivered the first two engines in prototype configuration. In April 2024, one of them was integrated with the prototype Sikorsky Raider X reconnaissance and attack helicopter developed for the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program, culminating in an engine run. This provided the data and information required before integration with the aforementioned UH-60M and UH-60V helicopters, as well as AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters. It should be noted, however, that the US Army canceled further development of the FARA program in February 2024.
The current US Department of Defense administration sought to slow the program through funding cuts proposed under the Army Transformation Initiative (ATI) in the fiscal year 2026 defense budget. The Senate blocked those changes and restored an additional 175 million USD in funding, recognizing the fielding of the T901 as a critical program.
UH-60M with integrated T901 engines / Photo: Lockheed Martin
T901-GE-900
The new engine is expected to provide 50% more power, at 3,000 shp, while reducing fuel consumption by 25% and increasing service life by 20% compared with the existing T700. The ITEP program was previously known as the Advanced Affordable Turbine Engine (AATE) program and had been underway since 2009. Its objective was to extend the operational radius of US Army helicopters to 500 km.
In 2016, the US Army Contracting Command awarded GE Aviation, now GE Aerospace, a 102 million USD contract for a 24-month Preliminary Design Review (PDR) phase. A test engine was built in 2016 and underwent testing through October 2017.
GE Aviation’s proposal was selected for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase on February 1, 2019. The company received 517 million USD to build engines by August 2024, ahead of the start of serial production. Its proposal defeated a competing bid from the Advanced Turbine Engine Company (ATEC), a joint venture formed by Honeywell Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney Military Engines. ATEC offered the HPW3000 engine, which received the US Army designation T900.
Since 2009, GE has invested approximately 9 billion USD in developing the technologies required for the new engine, as well as more than 300 million USD in developing and testing technologies specifically related to turboshaft engines. Over more than a decade, the company also invested over 10 billion USD in its supply chain, including eight new facilities, 10 infrastructure sites, and 1.5 million square meters of new manufacturing space. Production and assembly of all engine components will take place at GE Aerospace and supplier facilities in Lynn, Massachusetts; Auburn and Huntsville, Alabama; Norwich, Connecticut; Newark, Delaware; Loves Park, Illinois; Jacksonville, Florida; Madisonville, Kentucky; Grand Rapids and Muskegon, Michigan; Hooksett, New Hampshire; Asheville, North Carolina; West Chester, Evendale, and Dayton, Ohio; and Rutland, Vermont.
The new engine retains the T700’s annular combustion chamber, manufactured using ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) also employed in the CFM International LEAP and GE9X turbofan engines. Components are produced using additive manufacturing, reducing weight and minimizing the number of attachment points while allowing more aerodynamic shapes that improve efficiency, reliability, and durability. CMC components also require less cooling.