GE Aviation, based in Evendale, has partnered with the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson to continue work on the development of the Adaptive Engine Transition Program through 2021.
The next generation engine has a 30 percent increase in range; a 25 percent improvement in fuel consumption; and a 10 percent boost in thrust, according to GE.
GE will draw from technologies developed for commercial jet engines, such as ceramic matrix composites and additive manufacturing, the company said.
GE Aviation employs about 9,000 people in the Cincinnati-Dayton region, including an aerospace components assembly in Vandalia and the EPIS Center on the University of Dayton campus.
In 2012, the company was awarded a nearly $350 million contract for fighter jet advanced engine development, archives show.
The Air Force contract follows a GE announcement in June that it would cut 200 engineering jobs in the Cincinnati region as new jet engines come to market and move out of the testing phase. The company said no layoffs were planned in Dayton.
U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, released statements late Thursday that said the contract would boost manufacturing and innovation in southwest Ohio.
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