US Army delivers GE T901 for Bell 360 Invictus

The U.S. Army delivered GE Aerospace’s T901 Improved Turbine Engine to Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. company, for use in its submission to the U.S. Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program. With the engine’s arrival in Fort Worth, Texas, Bell is prepared to complete the build for the Bell 360 Invictus competitive prototype and move forward to the next stages of the FARA competition.

Jayme Gonzalez, program manager, FARA, said, “Now that we have received the engine, we are ready to begin working toward ground runs and other necessary preparations before first flight later next year.”

Bell and Team Invictus have been focused on preparing FARA support infrastructure, supply chain, and manufacturing hub to ensure alignment as they move toward the first flight. The Bell team will instrument and install the T901 engine and functionally prepare the aircraft for ground test operations.

Once the aircraft has been functionally tested with the T901 installed, the next steps for the Bell 360 include completing the Test Readiness Review and a restrained ground run. These tests are key to enabling the safe, rapid, and efficient execution of the flight test program.

The Bell 360 Invictus offers increases in speed, reach, and lethality for scout and reconnaissance capability, piloted and autonomous.

The first GE Aerospace T901-GE-900 flight test engines which support the FARA Competitive Prototype program were officially accepted by the Defense Contract Management Agency at GE’s Lynn, Massachusetts facility on Oct. 13, 2023. The new engine provides 50% more power and reduced life cycle costs with fewer parts and a simpler design.

The T901’s modular design draws on commercial technologies, including 3D-modeling, the use of ceramic matrix composites (CMCs), and 3D-printed (additive) parts. The use of CMCs and additive manufacturing enables the engine to produce more power with less weight.