EVENDALE, OHIO Bill would let General Electric compete for lucrative Navy pact

GE would be competing against Rolls-Royce for the Navy project.
EVENDALE, Ohio (AP) -- A proposed congressional spending bill could allow General Electric Co. to compete for a contract worth as much as $1 billion to build engines for a new Navy ship.
Ohio Republican Rep. Rob Portman's short addition to the $369 billion defense spending bill would grant a company $20 million to build a prototype engine for the Navy's new DD(X). The bill was approved by the House Appropriations Committee; next the Senate must write its own defense spending bill.
GE's jet engine division, GE Aircraft Engines, based in this Cincinnati suburb, has a long history with the Navy, providing large gas marine turbine engines for decades with little competition.
The prototype engine would compete against Rolls-Royce's version. Rolls-Royce was chosen earlier this year to build a test version of the new, 36-megawatt engine that will propel the DD(X).
Paula Kollstedt, a GE Aircraft Engines spokeswoman, said the contract for the new engine could be worth $1 billion.
"This keeps GE in the ball game," said Portman's spokesman, Kyle Downing, adding that he thinks GE is the only company that can build a competing engine.
GE Aircraft Engines, which employs about 7,500 people in Evendale, and Rolls-Royce may convert their large aircraft engines for use in the DD(X).
Northrop Grumman is designing the DD(X), set for production in 2007 and often referred to "the destroyer of the future." The ship's guns will fire 12 rounds per minute and hit targets 100 miles away.