Fairfield, Connecticut – GE Aviation will create a turboprop engine development, test, and production operation in Europe. This will represent an investment exceeding $400 million and ultimately support 500 to 1,000 jobs.
The turboprop industry is highly global and comprised of many small aircraft operators. Among the factors driving GE Aviation to pursue the new operation in Europe is the need to support these and other international customers with financing through government-sponsored export credit agencies (ECAs).
GE is currently bidding on $11 billion of projects that require export financing. Since the U.S. Export Import Bank (Ex-Im) authorization expired July 1, 2015, GE has commenced talks with several foreign ECAs to secure financing for its customers.
GE Aviation will continue to expand its operations into countries where critical Export Credit Agency financing is available for its global customers. As with the U.S. Ex-Im Bank, many ECA countries have requirements that production and jobs must be invested in-country to qualify for financing.
For example, in Canada, GE Aviation has designated its Bromont facility as the Global Robotics Center of Excellence and will build out this facility’s capabilities with additional investments in automation and advanced manufacturing technologies. Also in Canada, GE will expand its engine testing capability at its facility in Winnipeg, with $23 million in investments. This includes enhancing its wind tunnel and test stands to support development testing for GE’s new large commercial engine, the GE9X.
Additionally, in Brazil, GE Aviation will invest $55 million to expand capability by building a new engine test facility at its Celma location, supporting growth in assembly and overhaul of its commercial engines in airline service.
With this move, GE Aviation is combining the valuable expertise in its turboprop facility in the Czech Republic, along with ground-breaking technologies in its military and commercial jet engines, to pursue new turboprop engines in the 1000 to 1300 shaft horsepower (shp) range and in the 1500 to 2000 shp range.
In addition, GE research continues on a new 5,000 shp turboprop engine for the regional market that will leverage GE’s new GE38 turboshaft military helicopter engine (for the U.S. Marines’ CH53-K heavy lift helicopter), as well as technologies across GE’s broad military and commercial jet engine portfolio.
GE Aviation invests more than $1 billion annually in research and development.
Source: GE Aviation