Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, started ground runs on a UH-60M Black Hawk equipped with two Improved Turbine Engines (ITE) in West Palm Beach, Florida. Photos courtesy Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company.
Sikorsky on Jan. 29 said it has started ground runs with the new GE Aerospace [GE] T901 engines integrated on a Black Hawk helicopter, ahead of the first test flight later this year.
GE Aerospace added that the successful ground runs with its T901 engines, developed under the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP), “successfully validated the initial performance of all critical systems — including fuel, electrical, hydraulic, engine and flight control systems and engine bay flow” on the UH-60M Black Hawk.
“These tests mark a pivotal moment in history as the T901 engine powers the Black Hawk for the first time,” Amy Gowder, GE Aerospace’s president and CEO of defense and systems, said in a statement. “This achievement paves the way for a more powerful and mission-ready Black Hawk, equipping the U.S. Army with the ability to meet the growing demands of future operations.”
GE Aerospace was awarded a $517 million contract in February 2019 to develop its T901 engine for ITEP, which will eventually power the Army’s AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.
Last June, GE Aerospace delivered the first two T901 engines to Sikorsky to begin integration work on the UH-60M Black Hawk as the companies and the Army targeted 2025 for first flight on the platform.
To inform Black Hawk efforts, Sikorsky integrated the T901 engine into its Raider X prototype developed for the Army’s canceled Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft program and ultimately conducted three ground runs on the platform.
Along with canceling FARA a year ago, the Army noted at the time it would also delay moving into production of the T901 engine and invest in further research and development efforts.
Sikorsky noted the new T901 engine is designed to increase the Black Hawk’s power by 50 percent, improve fuel efficiency and is “a critical component of the roadmap to a modernized Black Hawk.”
“Soldiers will rely on Black Hawk helicopters well into the future, and upgrades to the aircraft today will pay dividends for decades, enabling new missions such as deploying and managing launched effects,” Hamid Salim, Sikorsky’s vice president of Army and Air Force systems, said in a statement. “A modernized Black Hawk fleet will create new operational opportunities for the Army by extending the capabilities of a proven, fielded fleet to travel farther on less fuel and with more troops and cargo.”
A version of this story originally appeared in affiliate publication Defense Daily.