The LM2500 delivers 33,600 shaft horsepower (shp) (25,060 kW) with a thermal efficiency of 37 percent at ISO conditions. When coupled with an electric generator, it delivers 24 MW of electricity at 60 Hz with a thermal efficiency of 36 percent at ISO conditions.
The improved, 3rd generation, LM2500+ version of the turbine delivers 40,500 shp (30,200 kW) with a thermal efficiency of 39 percent at ISO conditions. When coupled with an electric generator, it delivers 29 MW of electricity at 60 Hz with a thermal efficiency of 38 percent at ISO conditions.
The latest, 4th generation, LM2500+G4 version was introduced in November 2005 and delivers 47,370 shp (35,320 kW) with a thermal efficiency of 39.3 percent at ISO conditions.
The turbines have been used in various applications such as in warships of the U.S. and a number of other world navies, hydrofoils, hovercraft and fast ferries. As of 2004, more than one thousand LM2500/LM2500+ gas turbines have been in service for more than 29 international navies.
Recently, the increasing demands for low weight, high power engines in the oil and gas industry has led to GE developing a dedicated version for offshore use. This FPSO version is lighter and more compact, and is being used both for electricity generation and for directly driving compressors, e.g. for compressing natural gas going out into pipelines.
A heavy lift lowers the main propulsion module into the hull of USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) during construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding. The module consists of two General Electric LM2500 gas turbine engines and a Westinghouse gear reduction unit.
The LM2500 was uprated to 26,500 shp (19,800 kW) for the Arleigh Burke class destroyers, which were initiated in the 1980s and started to see service in the early 1990s, and the T-AOE-6 class of fast combat tanker.
In 2001 the LM2500 ( 20 MW ) was installed in a sound-proof capsule in the South African Navy Valour class (Meko A-200 SAN) frigates as part of a CODAG propulsion system with two MTU 16V 1163 TB93 Propulsion Diesels.
The current generation was uprated in the late 1990s to over 30,000 shp (22,000 kW).
Many of the military LM2500 installations place the engine inside a metal container of the same dimensions as a standard 40-foot (12 m) intermodal shipping container - 8 feet (2.4 m) wide, 8.5 feet (2.6 m) tall, and 40 feet (12 m) long. The containerized LM2500s may be designed for easy removal from their ships if the air intake ducting is shaped appropriately.
The LM2500+ is an evolution of the LM2500, delivering up to 40,200 shp (30,000 kW) or 28.6 MW of electric energy when combined with an electrical generator. Two of such turbo-generators have been installed in the superstructure near the funnel of Queen Mary 2, the world's largest transatlantic ocean liner, for additional electric energy when the ship's four diesel-generators are working at maximum capacity or fail. Celebrity Cruises uses two LM2500+ engines in their Millennium-class ships in a COGAS cycle.