How GE Aerospace’s Bengaluru team helped power hybrid electric flight and other GE Aeropsace innovations?

GE Aerospace’s team at Bengaluru’s John F. Welch Technology Centre (JFWTC), which is one of GE’s largest multidisciplinary centres for research and development outside the United States, is constantly collaborating with GE’s global research centres to produce key innovations. Recently, a major part of their research powered the maiden hybrid electric flight in July 2026, which was a joint effort on behalf of NASA and GE Aeropsace. The team of engineers at their Bengaluru team worked on next-generation propulsion technologies like Open Fan architecture, compact core, and hybrid electric systems and was instrumental in that flight.

The aircraft was powered by a megawatt-class hybrid-electric engine developed in collaboration with NASA and built by GE Aerospace. Mounted to a Saab 340B aircraft, the engine flew at Farnborough International Air Show in the United Kingdom. It was the public debut of a system that became the first hybrid electric-powered aircraft to fly above 30,000 feet. It demonstrated new generations of fuel-saving aircraft power systems.

The engine integrates electric motors, a gas turbine, and energy storage capabilities. It was designed to demonstrate the capacity to power an aircraft around the size of a regional-class jet, reducing fuel burn and costs without sacrificing performance. The unit’s technology and designs are expected to be used to help develop future hybrid systems that could lower airline operating costs.

The demonstration flight came after years of rapid development for the technology. For NASA, it also validates work that stretches back to a time when hybrid aviation propulsion seemed almost beyond the horizon of possibility.

Some of the engineers from GE Aerospace’s Bengaluru centre worked on integrating a megawatt-scale hybrid system into this aircraft that can operate at altitude. It was done for the first time as it involved taking the entire aircraft’s electrical system and making something that’s extremely efficient and operates seamlessly with whatever is currently on board the aircraft. The effort required thermal engineers, mechanical system designers, and a wide variety of experts in a tremendous range of fields.

Currently, engineers at GE Aerospace’s Bengaluru technology centre are helping advance and scale new services and maintenance technologies that improve engine durability, reliability, and time on wing (the active period between when an engine is mounted to an aircraft and when it is taken off for heavy maintenance) for their customers worldwide. This includes supporting global deployment of 360 Foam Wash across MRO shops, expansion of AI-enabled inspection technologies, and continued progress in durability testing for engines operating in harsh environments. Teams in Bengaluru are also advancing next-generation propulsion technologies and hybrid-electric propulsion.

“From improving reliability, durability and time on wing for the fleet flying today to advancing technologies to make the future of flight more efficient, Bengaluru engineers are making an important impact across the engine lifecycle,” remarked Shilpa Gupta, Chief Technology Officer, GE Aerospace in India.

Interestingly, GE Aerospace is deploying its proprietary 360 Foam Wash jet engine cleaning technology across MRO shops across the world. The 360 Foam Wash uses a specially formulated solution to remove dust and dirt from aircraft engines, helping lower exhaust temperatures, improve compressor efficiency, and restore performance. Engineers from its Bengaluru centre have played a key role in development and support of the technology, with more than 8,000 washes completed globally since 2017 on fielded engines or engines in service. More than 10 customers have licensed GE 360 Foam Wash globally and plans are to test the solution with more airline customers in the South Asia region.

Bengaluru teams have also supported the development of GE Aerospace’s AI-enabled Blade Inspection Tool (BIT), which assists trained technicians in capturing turbine blade images and improves review consistency while cutting inspection times by about 50 per cent for the Genx engine. In parallel, teams are advancing Analytics-Based Maintenance (ABM) with the ABM.AI tool and aircraft engine health monitoring that combines visual inspection, AI, and physics based insights to support condition-based maintenance, improve predictability, and help extend engine time on wing.

Another innovation the dust ingestion testing simulates harsh, real-world environmental conditions and is an important evaluation for producing a safe, reliable, and durable aircraft engine. Engineers in Bengaluru support end-to-end dust endurance testing for both narrow body and wide body aircraft engines, refining test plans and improving correlation to field conditions. These tests help improve engine’s hot-section component durability and support longer time on wing.

GE Aerospace team in Bengaluru are also helping develop technologies for CFM RISE programme ( Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines (RISE) is a technology demonstration programme of CFM International, a 50-50 joint company between GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines) which is targeting 20 per cent better fuel efficiency compared to the most efficient commercial engines in service today. GE’s India team contributes across Open Fan, compact core, and hybrid-electric systems, with expertise in power electronics, high-power density converters, and control systems.

GE Aerospace has an installed base of approximately 50,000 commercial and 30,000 military aircraft engines globally and has around 57,000 employees globally. Its Bengaluru centre is more than 25 years old.