U.S. Army secures contract for up to 2,500 T700 turboshaft engines

May 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army has awarded GE Engineering with a contract for up to 2,500 T700 turboshaft engines at a potential total cost of more than $1 billion, the company announced.

"This is terrific news for GE and serves as continued validation of the unprecedented capability and reliability of the T700," Harry Nahatis, vice president and general manager of GE Aviation, said in a press release.

"By consistently investing in upgrades that infuse GE's most advanced commercial and military technologies, GE's T700 has evolved through the years to meet or exceed our customers' performance expectations across a range of operating environments around the globe," Nahatis added.

The T700 series engine dates to helicopters used in Vietnam as a solution to using one vehicle in a multitude of environments, but has been heavily upgraded since. The engine series is the primary turboshaft component for the U.S. military.

Prime turboshaft applications include the Blackhawk helicopter, which has been using variants of the engine series since 1978, as have the Seahawk, Jayhawk, Pave Hawk, AH-64 Apache, UH-1Y Huey and 214ST Super Transport helicopters, among many others. Overall, the series is in use by more than 50 countries on a plethora of both helicopters and fixed-wing planes.