FILE PHOTO: A trade visitor walks past a General Electrics Aviation pavilion at Farnborough International Airshow in Farnborough, Britain, July 17, 2018. REUTERS/Toby Melville

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - General Electric Aviation, a unit of General Electric Co, has been awarded a $517 million U.S. Army contract for the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the Improved Turbine Engine Program, the Pentagon said on Friday.