ITEPORIGINS
Managed by the program executive
oice for the aviation turbine
engines project oice at Redstone
Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama,
ITEP is a program of record (POR)
that can be traced to the Advanced
Afordable Turbine Engine (AATE).
It began in 2006 and concluded
in 2014 with the completion of
demonstrations that included
performance, durability and sand
tests, as well as component-level
demonstrations and associated
software validations.
The program’s key performance
parameters speciied a threshold
maximum power of 1,850shp
(1,380kW) in the 6k/95 environment,
with an objective of at least
2,050shp (1,529kW). The dry weight
objective for the engine was no
more than 465lb (211kg) with an
inlet particle separator installed.
AATE was intended to mitigate the
risks of transitioning the advanced
turboshaft engine technology to a
POR. Managed by the Army Aviation
and Missile Research, Development
and Engineering Center (AMRDEC)’s
aviation development directorate,
the science and technology efort
targeted the development of a new
engine that would reduce speciic
fuel consumption by 25 per cent,
increase the power/weight ratio by
65 per cent, boost the service life
by 20 per cent to more than 6,000
hours and 15,000/7,500 cycles for
cold and hot sections components,
and reduce production and
maintenance costs by 35 per cent.
Development eforts for the ITEP
began in September 2015, when
the army released a request for
proposals (RFP) associated with the
project. In August 2016, US Army
Contracting Command awarded
24-month technology maturation
and risk reduction (TMRR) contracts
to GE and ATEC. Respectively worth
$102 million and $154 million, the
contracts funded preliminary design
work associated with the 3,000shp
(2,237kW)-class engine.http://www.combataircraft.net // November 2018 29