Honeywell [HON] said it has been awarded a $311 million third option year of an Army contract to improve performance and extend the life of the AGT1500 turbine engine that powers the M1 Abrams tactical vehicle.
The addition of the third option year raises the total contract value to more than $1 billion.
“Honeywell’s Total InteGrated Engine Revitalization program–TIGER–is an innovative partnering of public and private efforts,” Mike Cuff, vice president, Helicopters & Surface Systems, said June 2. “Teaming with the Army, we will continue to improve the AGT1500 engine to make it even more reliable and durable on the battlefield.
“To date under the program the Army has avoided more than 475 engine ‘returns to depot’ as Honeywell and (Anniston Army Depot) ANAD Field Service Engineers successfully repaired the engines at field level in TIGER Repair Shops,” Cuff said.
“For engines returned to depot, the post-overhaul engine Acceptance Test rate has improved by more than 40 percent,” he said. “At the same time, 21 design changes made to improve the engine’s durability are in development, testing or implementation.”
Honeywell is working with the Army’s Program Manager Heavy Brigade Combat Team and Army Depot (ANAD) under the contract to provide parts, enabling the ANAD overhaul of approximately 1,000 engines.
The program deploys fact-based maintenance and engineering design improvements to reduce operating and support costs and increase the service life of overhauled AGT1500 engines. The scope of work includes critical field support services at U.S. military bases and in Kuwait, South Korea and Germany.
With the TIGER Program, the Abrams engine is transitioning to a fact-based maintenance protocol in keeping with the Army’s desire for Conditioned Based Maintenance, the company said.
Significant cost-savings will be realized as a result of eliminating standard overhaul practices and employing targeted maintenance per engine field history, performance trends, and teardown analysis upon return to depot.