General Electric Awarded $10.2 Million Modification for J85 Engine Supplies
The Defense Logistics Agency issued the Lynn, Massachusetts, jet-engine maker a modification for J85 parts serving the Air Force and Navy, with work due by Aug. 31, 2026.
LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS — General Electric Co., the Lynn, Massachusetts, maker of the J85 military jet engine, received a $10.2 million modification to keep Air Force and Navy engine supplies flowing through August, as announced on war.gov.
The modification carries a maximum value of $10.2 million against a five-year, nine-month base contract with one four-year, three-month option period, according to war.gov. It covers an additional lot payment for August 2026 under Performance Period Five, with a completion date of Aug. 31, 2026. The Defense Logistics Agency Weapons Support in Richmond, Virginia, is the contracting activity, drawing on fiscal 2026 defense appropriated funds and defense working capital funds.
The J85 is a small single-shaft turbojet that powers trainer and light attack aircraft, including the T-38 Talon and the F-5 family. Steady supplies of parts keep those fleets flying, so the modification favors the flight-training pipeline and the maintenance depots that support it. A lapse in such deliveries would ground aircraft and slow pilot production.
The award marks the 14th contract to General Electric Co.in 2026, lifting the company’s year-to-date defense contract value to $1.83 billion, and the 41st Department of Defense contract issued in Massachusetts this year. It sits near the low end of the agency’s 2026 range, which ran from $9 million to $1.53 billion, and was one of eight Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on August 3, 2026.
Routine engine-supply modifications rarely reach the average reader, yet they underpin the readiness of military flight training. Trainer jets such as the T-38 prepare pilots who later fly front-line combat aircraft, and parts contracts keep those airframes serviceable.
This has happened before. Incremental lot payments and delivery-order modifications are a standard feature of long-term defense supply arrangements, and General Electric Co.has drawn on the same base contract structure across multiple performance periods. The steady cadence of such awards reflects a multi-year procurement designed to fund production in fixed increments.
The Defense Logistics Agency Weapons Support will decide on any further modifications tied to the base contract as subsequent lot payments come due. A date for the next action has not been announced.
General Electric Co.has supplied the U.S. military since the early days of jet propulsion, as happened before. The company built the country’s first jet engine, the I-A, which powered the Bell XP-59A Airacomet on its first flight in October 1942. It went on to develop the J85 in the 1950s, an engine that has logged tens of millions of flight hours across allied air forces. That early investment made the firm a durable pillar of American military aviation, a role it retains through supply awards like this one.
This contract represents the 14th contract awarded to General Electric Co., in 2026, bringing the company’s total contract value for the year to $1,828,130,470. It is also the 41st Department of Defense contract awarded in Massachusetts during 2026. While this is not the largest contract ever awarded to General Electric Co., whose record stands at $1,650,000,000, it is notable within the Defense Logistics Agency portfolio. Specifically, it falls between the 2026 Defense Logistics Agency portfolio’s year-to-date minimum of $9,000,000 and maximum of $1,525,000,000. Overall, this award was announced among 8 Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on August 3, 2026.
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