EVENDALE, OHIO -- Broens Aerospace was awarded a Purchase Order (PO) by GE to design and build three tooling mandrels required to manufacture the engine bypass duct during the System Development and Demonstration Phase (SDD) of the F136 engine program. The PO has the potential for follow-on POs in the production phase of the F136 program.
Two of the mandrels will be used to facilitate inspection of the bypass duct; the third tool will be used as a fixture in manufacturing. GE selected Broens for its proven quality and ability to meet GE's technical standards.
Broens Aerospace is an Australian-owned company of approximately 150 employees located in Ingleburn, New South Wales, Australia. The company has extensive global experience in tooling design and manufacture and operates sales and support centers.
Awarded a $2.4B System Development and Demonstration (SDD) contract in August 2005, the F136 Fighter Engine Team SDD phase includes the production and qualification of 14 engines, seven of which are for ground-tests, and six plus one spare for flight-tests. The first F136 engine is expected to test in mid-2008, but risk-reduction tests are ongoing, using one of the Fighter Engine Team's original pre-SDD development engines.
The F136 engine is expected to flight-test on the F-35 in 2010, with engine selections being available that year. Production engines will be available in 2012. This occurs during the fourth lot of F-35 aircraft production, which is very early in the overall F-35 production program.
The F-35 is a next-generation, multi-role stealth aircraft designed to replace the AV-8B Harrier, A-10, F-16, F/A-18 Hornet and the United Kingdom's Harrier GR.7 and Sea Harrier, all of which are currently powered by GE or Rolls-Royce making them the engine powers of choice for the U.S. and U.K. militaries. Potential F-35 production for the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Marines and international customers, including the UK Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, may reach as many as 5000 to 6000 aircraft over the next 30 years.
As the world-wide leaders in performance based logistics, military engine depot management, single engine, carrier, Short Takeoff Vertical Landing (STOVL), and stealth aircraft operations, the F136 will be fully and physically interchangeable to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The F136 was the first F-35 engine to offer a single engine configuration for all three versions of the aircraft: STOVL for the U.S. Marine Corps and U.K. Royal Navy, Conventional Takeoff and Landing (CTOL) for the U.S. Air Force, and the Carrier Variant (CV) for the U.S. Navy.
With the infusion of best practices and improved technology, the F136 is expected to exceed requirements for maintainability, affordability, and reliability for all JSF variants, while enhancing the ability of the U.S. services and international partners to cooperate in joint coalition operations.
Editor's notes
GE - Aviation, with responsibility for 60 percent of the F136 program, is developing the core compressor and coupled high-pressure/low-pressure turbine system components, controls and accessories, and the augmentor. Rolls-Royce, with 40 percent of the F136 program, is responsible for the front fan, combustor, stages 2 and 3 of the low-pressure turbine, and gearboxes. International participant countries are also contributing to the F136 through involvement in engine development and component manufacturing.