RVDT,
Have disagree with you on RR250 vs. T700/CT7 pricing. The T700 offers considerably more bang for the buck, especially now that GE Lynn and CCAD have got the TBOs under control.
T700-701Cs (and Ds) typically sell for
$650K to the DoD, which equates to about $330 per shp. Rolls charges the DoD
$560K for the 250-C30R/3, which equates to about $780/shp. Rolls' commercial pricing for spare C20/C30/C47 engines is even worse...not that Turbomeca is much better.
The sad thing is that we're still using what is at heart a late 1950s engine design. The
NASA GAP program (remember that?) was supposed to give us a 250 successor in the shape of the TSX-2, but the technical problems encountered by Williams on the lead
FJX-2 (FJ22/ER22) fan engine (mainly related to scaling issues and the complexity of the three-spool layout) killed the program.
Honeywell's
Small Heavy Fuel Engine seemed like a potential successor-to-the-successor-to-the-250, and Honeywell says the engine has met most of its goals (testbed achievements including a 57% increase in power:weight, a 24% reduction in cost and an initial 13% reduction in SFC), but the DoD doesn't seem to be in any hurry to put the engine into production.
I/C