Gas turbine engine bleed air power assist system and method

A bleed air power assist system is coupled to a gas turbine engine (100) that includes a high pressure turbine (126), a low pressure turbine (128), and an electrical generator (138) driven by the high pressure turbine (126). The bleed air power assist system selectively bleeds air discharged from the high pressure turbine (126) and supplies it to an air turbine (156) that is also coupled to the generator (138). Thus, the system selectively reduces the power extracted from the high pressure turbine (126). This, coupled with the bleed air that is diverted from the low pressure turbine (128), allows the low pressure spool (136) to run at lower speeds when high engine thrust is not needed or desired, but when the generator (138) is still needed to supply high electrical loads.