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GA-ASI Completes Durability Test for HFE 2.0 Engine

Our Bureau - : May 30, 2024 - : 1:47 am

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has completed durability testing for the 200-horsepower heavy fuel engine, which is being considered by the U.S. Army to be the fleet replacement for the current 180-horsepower engine used on GA-ASI’s Gray Eagle Extended Range (GE ER) UAS.

The testing was completed at the company’s El Mirage, California, flight facility. The Heavy Fuel Engine (HFE) 2.0, featuring a new GA-ASI-designed gear box and dual brushless generators from General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS), is designed to bring the engine and all ancillary components to 2,500 hours between scheduled overhauls and greatly increase maintenance-free operational periods.

“Our HFE 2.0 engine is now the best heavy fuel engine in aviation,” said GA-ASI President David R. Alexander. “Hats off to our Internal Research and Development team whose ingenuity and technical sophistication inspired the HFE 2.0 program, allowing us to develop a more reliable and durable engine that also addresses diminishing manufacturing sources for aviation heavy fuel engines and components.”

The final durability test simulated a full 2,500-hour engine life operating the highest flight loads that could ever be seen in the field. The test included conditions simulating 1,250 full power take-offs and climbs to high-cruising altitude, and over 200 hours of cruise in a worst-case generator loading conditions. HFE 2.0 is the cornerstone of the modernized Gray Eagle 25M (GE 25M) UAS currently being produced under a U.S. Army-funded program to support future Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) UAS missions.

Final 150-hour qualification testing is scheduled to be completed in September followed by certification from the U.S. Army.

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