GE Aviation has well and truly moved the aerospace engineering a couple of steps into the future with the introduction of a truly gigantic airbreathing jet engine that is the largest such engine ever produced.
Dubbed the GE9X, this airbreathing jet engine is capable of handling up to 100,000 pounds of thrust, with the added advantage of a 10 per cent efficiency improvement over the GE90 engine that is commonplace in Boeing 777 aircraft. One of the efficiency-focused measures was to reduce the number of fan blades from 22 to 16, with each fan measuring 341 cm across.
In fact, the GE9X airbreathing jet engines were developed specifically for the Boeing 777X wide-body passenger jets that are set to be deployed by several of the world's biggest airlines, which explains why GE Aviation already has hundreds of orders for its next-generation jet engine.
What's Driving This Trend
- Gigantic Jet Engines
- The trend of developing larger and more efficient airbreathing jet engines for commercial airplanes presents opportunities for disruption in the aerospace industry.
- Efficiency Improvements
- The trend of striving for increased engine efficiency by reducing fan blades and other measures presents opportunities for disruption in the aircraft engineering and manufacturing industries.
- Next-generation Aviation
- The trend of developing and implementing cutting-edge aviation technology, such as the GE9X engine, presents opportunities for disruption in the aviation industry.
Who This Affects Most
- Aerospace
- The aerospace industry will need to adapt to the trend of designing and producing larger and more efficient engines for commercial airplanes.
- Aircraft Engineering and Manufacturing
- The aircraft engineering and manufacturing industries will need to embrace the trend of efficiency improvements in engine design and development.
- Aviation
- The aviation industry must keep up with the trend of implementing advanced technology, such as the GE9X engine, to remain competitive.
