✦ RISE, the Open Fan and a Decade of OptionalityThin moat

GE Aerospace (GE) — the future bets

Every dollar spent on RISE is an option premium until an airframer commits an aircraft to it.

CFM's RISE programme is the industry's attempt at the first genuine architectural change in commercial propulsion since the high-bypass turbofan.

RISE: what exists and what does notTechnologies under testopen fan, compact core, hybrid electricTests completedmore than 350 toward ground and flightDurability testingearliest ever in the development processNASA hybrid-electricfirst megawatt-class ground tests, 2026Airframer commitmentnone — a demonstrator, not a productSelf-funded research rose 23% to $1,580m in 2025 to keep the option alive.
The most radical architecture proposed in fifty years, and its own participants call it a demonstrator.

It is advancing a suite of technologies including an open fan, a compact core and hybrid-electric systems, with more than 350 tests completed toward ground and flight tests this decade1. In 2025 the partners began dust ingestion testing on next-generation high-pressure turbine blades for the compact core, the earliest such testing has ever been conducted in the development process and a milestone aimed specifically at durability2. In 2026 GE Aerospace completed the first ground tests of a megawatt-class hybrid-electric engine system developed through NASA's Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project3.

An open fan removes the nacelle around the fan, allowing a far larger diameter and a substantial gain in propulsive efficiency. It also reintroduces every problem that killed the idea in the 1980s: noise, blade-off containment, and an airframe that must be designed around the engine rather than the other way round.

The programme's status is the thing to hold onto. RISE is a technology demonstrator, not a product for sale4. No airframer has committed an aircraft to it. Until one does, the money spent is an option premium: it buys the right to be the obvious choice when the next narrowbody is launched, and it buys nothing if the airframers choose a conventional architecture.

The decision also requires Safran, because CFM is a fifty-fifty joint venture with no controlling partner5.

Judge it on research and development: $1,580 million self-funded and $2,989 million in total in 2025, against $1,286 million and $2,699 million in 20246. Self-funded research rising twenty-three per cent in a year is a company buying time on the next franchise.

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

RISE is progressing — more than 350 tests, earlier-than-ever durability testing on the compact core, and a first megawatt-class hybrid-electric ground test — and it remains a technology demonstrator with no airframer commitment. Progress without a launch is not yet a widening moat.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Self-funded research and development
$1,580M in 2025, from $1,286M

A 23% increase in a year, buying the option on the next narrowbody franchise. RISE has completed more than 350 tests toward ground and flight tests this decade and remains a technology demonstrator; the launch decision requires Safran to agree at the same moment.

Source: GE Aerospace Form 10-K, fiscal year 2025 ↗
References
  1. ReportedIt is advancing a suite of technologies including an open fan, a compact core and hybrid-electric systems, with more than 350 tests completed toward ground and flight tests this decade.
    GE Aerospace Form 10-K, FY2025 - Item 1 Business — segment descriptions for Commercial Engines & Services and Defense & Propulsion Technologies, the CFM International 50-50 non-consolidated joint venture with Safran Aircraft Engines, the commercial engine platforms (LEAP, CFM56, GEnx, GE9X, CF6, GE90), the defence platforms (F110, F404, F414, T408, T700, T901, LM2500), the Propulsion & Additive Technologies brands, the CFM RISE programme, the customer description including airframers and sole-source positions, and the segment revenue and services shares. — FY2025 · publ. January 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedIn 2025 the partners began dust ingestion testing on next-generation high-pressure turbine blades for the compact core, the earliest such testing has ever been conducted in the development process and a milestone aimed specifically at durability.
    GE Aerospace Form 10-K, FY2025 - Item 1 general and Item 2 Properties — the installed base of approximately 50,000 commercial and 30,000 military engines and the statement that it supports an aftermarket representing approximately 70% of revenue, the FLIGHT DECK operating model, customers in approximately 120 countries, the facility count, human capital and employee numbers, the intellectual property discussion, the research and development table splitting company-funded from customer- and partner-funded spending, and the engine testing milestones. — FY2025 · publ. January 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedIn 2026 GE Aerospace completed the first ground tests of a megawatt-class hybrid-electric engine system developed through NASA's Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project.
    GE Aerospace second-quarter 2026 earnings release (Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K of July 16, 2026) — total company GAAP and non-GAAP results, segment revenue, orders and operating profit, free cash flow, the raised full-year 2026 guidance for adjusted revenue growth, operating profit, adjusted earnings per share and free cash flow, the LEAP-1B durability kit certification, the XA102 and GE426 defence programmes, the NASA hybrid-electric ground tests, and the chief executive's commentary. — Q2 2026 · publ. 16 July 2026 · source ↗
  4. Third-party estimateRISE is a technology demonstrator, not a product for sale.
    Aviation and market coverage of GE Aerospace's narrowbody position and delivery ramp - the LEAP as the exclusive powerplant on the Boeing 737 MAX and holding more than 55% of the Airbus A320neo family through the CFM joint venture, the target of about 2,000 LEAP deliveries in 2026, first-half deliveries up 41%, and CFM RISE described as a technology demonstrator rather than a product for sale. — 2026 · publ. August 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedThe decision also requires Safran, because CFM is a fifty-fifty joint venture with no controlling partner.
    GE Aerospace Form 10-K, FY2025 - Item 1 Business — segment descriptions for Commercial Engines & Services and Defense & Propulsion Technologies, the CFM International 50-50 non-consolidated joint venture with Safran Aircraft Engines, the commercial engine platforms (LEAP, CFM56, GEnx, GE9X, CF6, GE90), the defence platforms (F110, F404, F414, T408, T700, T901, LM2500), the Propulsion & Additive Technologies brands, the CFM RISE programme, the customer description including airframers and sole-source positions, and the segment revenue and services shares. — FY2025 · publ. January 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedJudge it on research and development: $1,580 million self-funded and $2,989 million in total in 2025, against $1,286 million and $2,699 million in 2024.
    GE Aerospace Form 10-K, FY2025 - Item 1 general and Item 2 Properties — the installed base of approximately 50,000 commercial and 30,000 military engines and the statement that it supports an aftermarket representing approximately 70% of revenue, the FLIGHT DECK operating model, customers in approximately 120 countries, the facility count, human capital and employee numbers, the intellectual property discussion, the research and development table splitting company-funded from customer- and partner-funded spending, and the engine testing milestones. — FY2025 · publ. January 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 23, 2026