GE Begins Full Fate Engine Tests

GE Aviation has begun full testing of a new generation of rotorcraft engines, initially for the military but possibly with implications for the civil market. The Future Affordable Turbine Engine (Fate) program is a partnership between GE and the U.S. Army. The engine is designed to meet some aggressive goals, among them a 35-percent reduction in specific fuel consumption, 80-percent improvement in power-to-weight ratio, 20-percent improvement in design life and 45-percent reduction in production and maintenance costs relative to currently fielded engines. The technology advancements are expected to improve hot-and-high payload and performance and extend range and endurance for existing and new rotorcraft.

The first full engine test follows the completion last year of Fate compressor, combustor and turbine rig tests. The Fate compressor rig recorded the highest single-spool compressor pressure ratio in GE Aviation’s history. The combustor tested makes extensive use of ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) that withstand high temperatures and weigh less than conventional materials. The Fate turbine rig was built using additive manufacturing techniques for faster construction and lower development costs. These rigs followed Fate inlet particle separator tests completed in 2014.

“The Fate program is the most advanced turboshaft development program in GE’s history,” said Harry Nahatis, GE Aviation’s general manager of advanced turboshaft programs. “We’re proud to work with the Army in bringing these breakthrough technologies to maturity, and we’re encouraged with the full engine test results thus far.”

In 2011, GE was awarded the Fate cooperative program to design a 5,000- to 10,000-shp turboshaft that demonstrates technologies applicable to existing aircraft and future rotorcraft requirements such as the Department of Defense’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program. GE maintains that these technologies can be incorporated into new and existing engines, including the GE 3000, which was demonstrated in the Army’s Advanced Affordable Turbine Engine program, or upgrades to the T700 (which powers the Sikorsky UH-60 and the Boeing AH-64), or the T408 in the Marine Corps CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter.

“With the T408, GE3000 and Fate programs, we have a multigenerational product plan that shares technologies across our military rotorcraft efforts, incorporates commercial engine technologies and fuses them together in a low-risk manner to drive high-performance and affordable engines applicable to both military and commercial aircraft,” said Jean Lydon-Rodgers, vice president and general manager of GE Aviation’s military systems operation.