EVENDALE, OHIO -- The first GE Rolls-Royce F136 development engine for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program is expected to begin ground-testing on July 23 at GE's facility in Evendale, Ohio, USA.
The fully assembled engine is now installed in the test stand and the checkout of test instrumentation is nearing completion.
This F136 development engine, in the Conventional Take-off/Landing (CTOL) configuration, will be ground-tested for approximately 200 hours in the GE test cell and is expected to run through December 2004. In early 2005, the same engine will run an additional 200 to 300 hours of endurance tests. A second development engine in the Short Take-off Vertical Landing (STOVL) configuration will be assembled later this year and tested in early 2005 at GE's outdoor test center near Peebles, Ohio.
The first engine to test marks the most significant milestone in the highly successful Phase III pre-System Development and Demonstration (SDD) for the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team, which comprises: GE Transportation - Aircraft Engines in Evendale, Ohio, USA; Rolls-Royce plc in Bristol, England, and Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
This development work is being funded by the four-year Phase III pre-SDD contract, which runs through 2005. Proposal work by the Fighter Engine Team is underway in anticipation of a new multi-year SDD contract award in 2005 from the JSF program office.
Based on the current schedule, the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine team expects to run the first full SDD engine in 2007. Delivery of the first production F136 engine is scheduled for 2011.
The F136 will be fully interchangeable and affordable to meet the requirements of all the aircraft variants. Engines will be tested for all JSF variants during Phase III: STOVL for the U.S. Marine Corps and U.K. Royal Navy, CTOL for the U.S. Air Force, and the Carrier Variant (CV) for the U.S. Navy.
GE Transportation - Aircraft Engines, with responsibility for 60 percent of the 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 program, is responsible for the front fan, combustor, stages 2 and 3 of the low-pressure turbine, and gearboxes. International partner countries are also contributing to the F136 through involvement in engine development and component manufacturing.