Garrett Team In Finals for Army Contract : Helicopter Job Could Be Worth $3.8 Billion

WASHINGTON â€”  The field of competitors fighting for the right to develop engines for the Army’s helicopters of the 1990s has been narrowed to two corporate teams, one of them led by a subsidiary of Los Angeles-based Garrett Corp. Each will now fight for contracts that could ultimately be worth $3.8 billion.

The Army said in a prepared statement Friday that it had awarded fixed-price contracts for the development of prototype engines to two joint ventures, each comprising two companies.

The first includes Avco Lycoming of Stratford, Conn., a subsidiary of Textron, and Pratt & Whitney of West Palm Beach, Fla., a subsidiary of United Technologies. The second winning team consists of Garrett Turbine Engine Co. of Phoenix, Ariz., the Garrett Corp. subsidiary, and General Motors’ Allison Gas Turbine division. Garrett Corp. itself is a subsidiary of San Diego-based Signal Cos.

Three-Year Period

According to the Army, both winning teams now will be given three years to develop a turbine engine that could be used not only on the new so-called LHX family of light helicopters being developed for the 1990s but for other fixed-wing aircraft.

After development of prototypes, the Army will select one of the two finalists to proceed with final testing and full-scale production. The production decision, when it is made, will require the partners in the winning team to compete for individual manufacturing orders, the Army said.

An Army spokesman said the contracts awarded Friday were each for a maximum of five years, even though the prototype must be built within three years. The losing team will be supported financially only through the three-year development period, he explained. The winner will be expected to proceed with additional testing.

The Army plans to buy about 10,000 of the new engines by the end of the century for an estimated $3.8 billion. It has described the engine competition as an essential element of a much larger effort to design an entirely new light helicopter that could be used for observation and attack roles.