General Electric’s LM2500 marine engines to power Navy’s next gen missile vessels

Six LM2500 marine gas turbine engine kits will be delivered by GE Aerospace for assembly and test by HAL Industrial and Marine Gas Turbine Division in Bengaluru. Photo: geaerospace.com

Engine manufacturer General Electric announced that its LM2500 marine engines have been chosen to power Indian Navy’s Next Generation Missile Vessels (NGMV) being built by Cochin Shipyard Limited.

Six LM2500 marine gas turbine engine kits will be delivered by GE Aerospace for assembly and test by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Industrial and Marine Gas Turbine Division in Bengaluru. Additionally, GE Aerospace will be supplying its composite base and enclosure, and full complement of gas turbine auxiliary systems, GE said in a statement.

“The LM2500 gas turbine’s proven power and reliability make it the ideal choice for the NGMV mission. We are proud to continue our collaboration with HAL to deliver this critical technology for India’s maritime defense,” said Amy Gowder, GE Aerospace Defense & Systems President and CEO, in the statement.

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The statement noted that the NGMV is a new design for the Indian Navy that will reach a maximum speed of 35 knots and carry an impressive array of anti-surface weapons and the core of the NGMV propulsion system is the “LM2500, a marine gas turbine engineered to unleash superior power while meeting stealth requirements”.

Over 714 vessels globally rely on GE Aerospace’s marine gas turbines for their reliability and availability, according to the company.

In 2023, GE Aerospace and HAL signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore expanding their capabilities to include assembly, inspection, and testing (AIT) of the LM500 marine gas turbines building on their earlier partnership. To date, GE Aerospace has delivered 24 marine gas turbine kits to HAL for the Indian Navy, demonstrating strong support for Make-In-India initiatives, the statement said.

Cochin Shipyard was awarded a ₹9,805 crore contract by the Defence Ministry for the construction of six NGMVs for the Indian Navy and deliveries are scheduled to commence from March 2027.

After constructing the country’s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, Cochin Shipyard is now building eight anti-submarine warfare shallow water crafts for the Navy, which are under various stages of construction.