Army Vice Chief: Fate of ITEP depends on service’s share of FY26 budget request

The Army’s GE T901 First Engine to Test installed in the test cell prior to initial engine light off. The engine’s light off marks the start of 100 hours of run time throughout the next two months to verify and validate engine performance models. (Photo courtesy of General Electric via DVIDS)

AAAA 2025  — The ultimate fate of a new engine for UH-60 Black Hawks and AH-64 Apaches remains “unknown” and will rest on how much money the US Army receives next year, according to Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Mingus.

“We know that the Army will benefit from reconciliation, but just how much is unknown,” the four-star general told reporters Wednesday at the Army Aviation Association of America’s annual conference in Nashville, Tenn.

“The future of ITEP [the Improved Turbine Engine Program] is largely going to depend on where all these things land inside the ‘26 budget,” he later added.

Earlier this month the service rolled out the Army’s Transformation Initiative (ATI) with changes to force structure and cuts to weapons programs. The service later confirmed that General Electric’s ITEP was on the chopping block, and an EXORD, dated May 7 and obtained by Breaking Defense, notes that the service wants “options to cease development” of ITEP as well as an “implementation timeline.”

At the same time, the Trump administration has announced plans to request a $1 trillion national defense budget in fiscal 2026, but will only hit those record levels by including more than two thirds of the $150 billion in extra defense funds contained in a Republican reconciliation megabill currently making its way through Congress.

What remains unclear, according to Mingus, is how much of that pie the Army will get, which leaves questions about some programs like ITEP.

“Just like the Black Hawk, the Apache is going to be around for a while,” Mingus said. “Is it going to need an improved engine or can we just continue to modify the one that it has?

“Because with those launched effects platforms that are going to come off that Apache, maybe its role isn’t like it was in the traditional sense,” he added. “Maybe it’s a standoff that’s sitting in a fire position, that is launching effects that will go out 300, 400 or 500 kilometers.”