GE Aerospace Completes First High-Speed Low-Pressure Turbine Test for Open Fan in Poland
Why It MattersProgress on the Open Fan's turbine component keeps the CFM RISE demonstration on course toward flight tests this decade, a step in the wider effort to cut engine fuel burn.
GE Aerospace announced on October 27, 2026 that engineers have completed the company's first testing campaign of a high-speed, low-pressure turbine (LPT) at the Polonia Aero laboratory in Zielonka, Poland. The test supports development of the Open Fan engine architecture, one of the key technologies advanced through the CFM RISE technology demonstration program. The LPT helps drive the Open Fan, a jet engine design that removes the traditional casing, allowing a larger fan with less drag to improve fuel efficiency and durability.
Over more than 1,000 hours of testing beginning in 2025, teams validated the LPT's aerodynamic design and its aerothermal performance. A custom test rig allowed precise control of air flow, temperature and pressure to replicate a wide range of flight conditions. Data from the campaign will be used to further mature the Open Fan architecture for flight tests this decade.
Unveiled in 2021, CFM RISE has completed approximately 500 test campaigns and more than 10,000 endurance and dust ingestion cycles, including tests on Open Fan, compact core and hybrid electric systems. It targets more than 20% better fuel burn than commercial engines in service today. RISE is a technology demonstration program of CFM International, a 50-50 joint company between GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines, and is not a product offered for commercial sale.
Polonia Aero is a research laboratory operated by Avio Aero, a GE Aerospace company, specializing in experimental testing of low-pressure turbines. Teams in Poland are drawing on in-country external funding and Clean Aviation's OFELIA, TAKE OFF, HYDEA and AMBER projects. GE Aerospace has more than 2,300 employees across five locations in Poland.
