Army pushes industry to share costs as GE seeks more funding for ITEP testing

NASHVILLE — The Army wants companies to “burden share” costs when it comes to testing and development of programs, a senior aviation leader said.

The comments come days after General Electric Aerospace’s statement that the company would need more money to wrap up qualification testing for the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP) in the next 12-18 months.

“I’ll say this in general about programs out there, the Army wants to burden share with the developers, right? It shouldn’t be the Army always putting all the upfront money,” Maj. Gen. Clair Gill, program acquisition executive for Maneuver Air, told reporters Thursday following a question about General Electric’s comments. He added that Army leadership has been “pretty intent” on making sure companies are coming to the table with funding to “share the cost with us” for testing and development. 

“We don’t want to do all the development, we want to do the procurement. We want to buy it for the long term, so that that’s where we’re going back to the manufacturers and having negotiations about, how do we best position the development so that it’s not all on the government. But also… we understand that [the manufacturers] have to see that there is a production line so that they can make a profit in the future,” said Gill, who is dual-hatted as the commanding general of the Army Aviation Center of Excellence.

RELATED: GE warns ITEP engine program needs ‘little bit more money’ for testing in FY27 budget

ITEP has faced several delays over the years as the Army has adjusted its priorities for its aviation fleet. The service reportedly came close to cancelling the program in line with the Army Transformation Initiative. 

Further, funding for the program was zeroed out in the Pentagon’s fiscal 2027 budget request. This happened in the FY26 budget request as well, but lawmakers ultimately pushed back, providing the service with $175 million in FY26 funding and $63 million in reconciliation money. 

With the previously allocated funding, the Army and General Electric have been able to make significant progress in completing qualification testing, Brig. Gen. David Phillips, deputy PAE of Maneuver Air, told Breaking Defense last month. 

Tom Champion, executive program director for T901 at General Electric, told reporters earlier this week that the company has delivered six flight test engines to the Army at this point and will continue to deliver more. He added that the company has invested around $500 million in the testing and development of the engine, and in the last two years, the company has invested over $600 million in its factory sites related to its defense engine business. 

When Breaking Defense inquired about Gill’s comments, a spokesperson from General Electric pointed to Champion’s previous comments on investment figures, but declined to comment on any plans for future investments.