Originally Posted by riff_raff
These are 1000 hour MTBR engines that likely cost over 1.5 million dollars each.
$1.9M a pop according to the latest
contract award ($128M for 66 donks).
The unfortunate design issue with the AE1107 is its 14-stage axial flow compressor, which renders it more prone to FOD damage than an axi-centrif architecture. The Corps has previously hinted that it is considering replacing the AE1107 with the more robust five-stage axi/single-stage centrif GE38 from the CH-53K, but whether anyone really has the appetite for such an engineering effort at this stage in the game has to be questionable.
I/C