Turkish Marine Propulsion Program | News & Discussions

[hyperman]

GE Marine and Turkish TEI Sign LM2500 Marine Gas Turbines Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul License Agreement​

GE Marine has signed a license agreement with TEI (TUSAS Engine Industries, Inc.) based in Eskisehir, Türkiye, that establishes TEI as the in-country service provider for maintenance, repair, and overhauls of GE’s LM2500 marine gas turbines. This will include the ability to service GE gas turbines currently in use by the Turkish Naval Forces, Turkish exported ships, as well as several global Navies operating the LM2500.

Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in August 2021 whereby GE and TEI began to explore additional localization efforts, this new agreement demonstrates GE’s deep commitment to Türkiye’s shipbuilding industry. TEI is a leading global manufacturer of defense power, leveraging its many years of experience supporting the Turkish defense industry, in partnership with GE. GE Marine and TEI have collaborated in Türkiye for many years and are now poised to play a critical role in supporting the Turkish shipbuilding industry for many more.

“GE is pleased to be a trusted partner in Türkiye supporting Turkish Naval Forces with the LM2500 and the solidification of this license agreement with TEI. The significant expansion of the LM2500 MRO global network directly benefits Turkish Naval Forces and Turkish Shipbuilding Industry.” said Mark Musheno, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, GE Marine.

The LM2500 is the world’s most popular marine gas turbine and is derived from GE’s TF39 and CF6-6 aircraft engines. Currently, GE has delivered or has on order 31 LM2500 gas turbine onboard 18 ships for Türkiye. Programs include the Barbaros, Gabya and ISTIF class frigates (MILGEM-I), the Ada class (MILGEM) corvettes and the DIMDEG fleet oil replenishment vessel.

“We are very excited by TEI’s addition to LM2500 Marine Engine Global MRO Service Supplier Network. With this license granted from our long-term partner GE, TEI becomes an OEM Certified MRO Service Provider to meet the MRO demand of Turkish Navy as well as the Navies of several other countries worldwide.” said Prof. Mahmut Faruk Aksit, CEO of TUSAS Engine Industries Inc. (TEI).

“With our planned investments in the field, we are quite confident that our company will offer its best-in-class MRO service for LM2500 Marine Engines with on-time-delivery, highest quality standards, low turn-around-times at competitive price levels. TEI will make special-to-project investments and gain the required capability and capacity in Türkiye with the support of our eco-system and existing in-country infrastructure. We strongly believe our strong commitment and cooperation will lead to another success story.” Aksit added.

GE Marine and TEI will continue to identify other ways to further localize key manufacturing processes, such as the assembly, installation, and testing of the LM500 and LM2500 gas turbines. This will further strengthen the localization and indigenization priorities of the Turkish government and defense industry by maximizing local content. TEI is one of the largest producers of parts for the LM2500 gas turbine, as well as a licensed MRO facility for GE’s T700 engine, used in Black Hawk, Seahawk, Super Cobra and Apache helicopters, and GE’s F110 engine, used in F16 and F15 fighter aircrafts.

 

[hyperman]

This news is a bit old from 2023, but I felt it warranted it own thread to consolidate news of developments, b/c of the importance of Marine Propulsion and specifically for Larger ships like Frigates, Destroyers, and such. With the expansion of Turkish Shipbuilding the question surrounding the LM2500 I predict will become more discussed, especially as this perhaps the most glaring deficiency amongst Turkish Engine programs, as currently a program to develop marine engines of this class hasn't been launched yet, despite the sheer volume use of the LM2500 that is expected with the Turkish shipbuilding boom, and the fact thats basically the common engine for so many Turkish operated ships.

Aircraft carriers

• MUGEM class

Destroyers

• TF-2000 class

Frigates

• Barbaros class
• İstif class
• G class

Corvettes

• Ada class

Replenishment oilers

• TCG Derya

Its something to note especially because some of Turkey's peer are further along in the process, with Italy, South Korea, Japan and even India working with the LM2500 and some countries license producing the engine.

India infact, news came out that they are launching its own program to develop a LM2500 equivalent, just last month.

AIP for '24-28 MW Marine Gas Turbine' was granted in July, 2025 and AoN accorded on 07.09.2026. Any vendor evincing interest for participation in EOI may connect Cdr (Marine Engg.), Directorate of Marine Engg.(DME), Naval Hqrs, E-311, Nausena Bhavan.

AIP for '24-28 MW Marine Gas Turbine' was granted in July, 2025 and AoN accorded on 07.09.2026. Any vendor evincing interest for participation in EOI may connect Cdr (Marine Engg.), Directorate of Marine Engg.(DME), Naval Hqrs, E-311, Nausena Bhavan. Tele : 011-2805 5275...

www.ddpmod.gov.in

I will use this thread to consolidate news on Turkish Marine Propulsion programs and especially LM2500 related matters. Feel free to contribute anything related and discuss.

 

[hyperman]

Akşit explicitly discussed licensed production of the LM2500​

The clearest source is the TEI Post, issue 140, where Akşit said that discussions about producing the GE LM2500 in Turkey had reached a certain stage and that TEI was trying to obtain the ability to produce it under an official license.

The relevant passage is:

“Our discussions regarding the production of GE LM2500 engines … have reached a certain stage in our country. Globally, we are making efforts to acquire the capability to produce this engine under official license.”

This is from TEI's own publication, so this is about as good a primary source as we can get.

The English version is here:

TEI Post — Issue 140 (English)

And the Turkish version:

TEI Post — Issue 140 (Turkish)

The 2021 GE–TEI MOU is even broader than just production​

This is the other really important source.

In August 2021, GE Marine and TEI signed an MOU specifically to explore localization of LM2500 and LM500 in Turkey.

GE said the discussions covered:

manufacture, assembly, repair, test, maintenance, inspection, overhaul
and, importantly, the MOU also sought to involve TEI in design processes for potential naval programs.

Akşit himself described the goal as localization in:

design, component manufacturing, assembly and test

That's much more ambitious than simply being a maintenance center.

GE Marine, TEI Sign Memorandum of Understanding to Explore Localization of GE Gas Turbines in Turkey | GE Aerospace News

ISTANBUL, TURKEY -- GE Marine and TUSAS Engine Industries, Inc. (TEI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) whereby GE and TEI will explore additional localization efforts

www.geaerospace.com

Then Akşit gave the very clear economic explanation in 2026​

In the January 31, 2026 DefenceTurk interview, Akşit was asked directly:

Can Turkey produce the LM2500? Is there a licensing agenda?

His answer was essentially:

Yes, TEI has the capability to manufacture it, but Turkey isn't currently doing so.
He then explained that the current number of Turkish LM2500s isn't large enough to justify the industrial investment. He said that if the number eventually rose beyond roughly 100 and the government had a requirement, production could become viable.

The relevant portion is around lines 94–104 of the interview.

TEI Genel Müdürü Akşit: "TF6000 ile 5900 libre güce ulaştık"

TEI Genel Müdürü ve Yönetim Kurulu Başkanı Prof. Dr. Mahmut F. Akşit, Defence Turk ve gdh defence’nin sorularını yanıtladı.

www.defenceturk.net

So we now have a very useful evolution:

Year	What Akşit/TEI said
2021	GE–TEI to explore localization, including design, components, assembly and testing
2022/23	TEI says negotiations for official LM2500 production license had reached a significant stage
2023	TEI receives LM2500 MRO license
2024–25	TEI begins doing LM2500 work for the US Navy, expanding expertise
2026	Akşit says TEI has the technical capability to produce LM2500, but economics don't justify it yet; >100 engines could change that

 

[hyperman]

LM2500 motorlarının lisansı​

Soru: Şimdi LM2500 çok yaygın, dünyada çok kullanılıyor. Bizim donanmanın bel kemiği LM2500, hatta Çin bile LM2500’leri lisansla üretiyordu. Biz LM2500 üretebilir miyiz? Lisansla böyle bir gündem de var mı?

Prof. Dr. Mahmut F. Akşit: Bizim aslında üretebilecek yeteneğimiz var ama üretiyor muyuz? Hayır.

LM2500 (Görsel: TEI)
Soru: Bunun lisansını konuştunuz mu? ABD ile görüşmeler oldu mu?

Prof. Dr. Mahmut F. Akşit: Yani şu anda bizim ordumuzun elindeki adetler böyle bir altyapıyı destekleyecek sayılarda değil. Çin donanmasında kim bilir kaç bin tane var. ABD Donanması’nda da. Onlar da Çin ilişkileri iyiyken vermişler, Çin düşman olunca kısıtladılar. Bizde şu anda yani LM2500 sayıları 10’lu sayılar. Belki ileriye doğru bunlar 100’lü rakamları geçerse devletimiz bu konuda da bir talebi olursa yapılabilir. Çünkü sonuç olarak ne kadar yatırıyorsun ne kadar alacaksın? Yaptığın yatırım motorlara bakmakla 50 yılda kendini ödemiyorsa öyle bir yatırım yapmana gerek yok ama önemli olan şey imalattan ziyade bakımını yapmak. Bu ordumuzun stratejik bir ihtiyacı. Yani çok kullandığımız makinenin motorunun bakımını yapabilmemiz lazım. O yeteneği de kazandık.

TEI Genel Müdürü Akşit: "TF6000 ile 5900 libre güce ulaştık"

TEI Genel Müdürü ve Yönetim Kurulu Başkanı Prof. Dr. Mahmut F. Akşit, Defence Turk ve gdh defence’nin sorularını yanıtladı.

www.defenceturk.net