The US Army has officially delivered GE Aerospace's T901 Improved Turbine Engine to Bell Tectron for its submission for the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) programme. With the engine's arrival, Bell is prepared to complete the build for the Bell 360 Invictus competitive prototype and move forward to the next stages of the competition.

“The ITEP delivery is a major milestone for FARA and the Bell 360 Invictus competitive prototype,” says Jayme Gonzalez, program manager, FARA. “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 our FARA support infrastructure, supply chain and manufacturing hub to ensure alignment as we move forward on the path toward first flight. With the T901 now in hand, the Bell team is prepared to instrument and install the 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.

“Our team has been hard at work to drive down risk in preparation for ground and flight tests,” says Chris Gehler, senior vice president and program director, FARA. “We are excited to receive the T901 engine and look forward to demonstrating the transformative capabilities of the Bell 360 Invictus. As well, we continue to advance and meet Army requirements for an open weapons system design that provides the next level of lethality and survivability into our warfighters' arsenal.”

Bell says that the 360 Invictus offers major increases in speed, reach, and lethality that will enable the Army to reintroduce the critical scout and reconnaissance capability with both piloted and autonomous capabilities.