GE Aerospace Saab 340B Hybrid-Electric Test Bed Aircraft Flies at the 2026 Farnborough Airshow

GE Aerospace and partners NASA, Beta Technologies, and Boeing have completed what GE says are the first hybrid-electric flights above 30,000 feet, as well as the first across the North Atlantic. The longest of the tests lasted more than two hours in hybrid-electric flight, powered by GE Aerospace’s propulsion system developed through the NASA Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) project.

For the campaign, GE Aerospace modified the right side of a Saab 340B twin turboprop, fitting a hybrid-electric system inside an inverted nacelle that provided additional ventilation. The system paired a CT7 engine with GE-developed motor/generators, power converters, inverters, and controllers, along with Avio Aero gearboxes, Dowty propellers, Unison heat exchangers, torque sensing, and engine harnesses. BAE Systems supplied the batteries, while Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences provided the complete nacelle.

Pilots from GE Aerospace and Beta flew the U.S. test campaign, with Beta serving as systems integrator. Beta pilots then ferried the aircraft across the Atlantic to the UK for the Farnborough International Airshow, operating in hybrid-electric mode on each leg.