WASHINGTON – The Advanced Turbine Engine Company (ATEC) has successfully completed a second test of its HPW3000 engine, its offering for the Army's Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP) program.

The late-summer evaluation tested both the engine's performance and its ability to operate when fine and coarse sand were run through it. The test went off without a problem, and it is performing in line with ITEP requirements, company officials said.

"We're ecstatic about the results," said Jerry Wheeler, vice president of programs at ATEC.

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The ITEP program seeks to develop a replacement for the General Electric T-700 engines that power the Boeing AH-64 Apache and Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk fleets. The goal is to develop an engine with 50 percent more power and 25 percent more fuel efficiency than the legacy T-700s.

Hitting those levels would allow for leaner operations in the field, particularly in the "high and hot" environments that pop up in places like Iraq or Afghanistan.

ATEC, a 50-50 joint venture between Honeywell and Pratt & Whitney, is expected to compete against General Electrics for the final award.

While the HPW3000 is designed for the ITEP competition, both Wheeler and company president Craig Madden expressed confidence other markets exist for the engine, should it be selected by the Army.

Beyond the various operators of Black Hawks and Apaches, Wheeler said, the engine could make sense as the power plant for the Army's future vertical lift vehicle, whenever it is selected.

"The ITEP engine is well-positioned to be the engine, or the basis for the engine, for the light and medium [future vertical lift] variants, depending on the requirements," he said.

Keeping any program on track in the current budget environment is tough, but Madden said the Army continues to prioritize the engine.

"Throughout the Army it is recognized as being needed, and the budget is there," Madden said. "You have to be concerned about any program in this environment, but the program has such support at senior army leadership level that we're pretty confident."

Wheeler said the goal is obviously to win the ITEP competition, but the development effort also benefits Honeywell and Pratt, ATEC's parent companies.

"At its heart, [the] program is a technology validation program that companies use to advance their technologies to a higher rate of technology readiness, and then that benefits other programs as well," Wheeler said. ■

Email: amehta@defensenews.com.

About Aaron Mehta

Aaron Mehta was deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent for Defense News, covering policy, strategy and acquisition at the highest levels of the Defense Department and its international partners.

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