LE BOURGET - Less than a year after the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team tested its F136 engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), the team has achieved several milestones - including completion of all pre-System Development & Demonstration (SDD) testing ahead of schedule and under budget. Successful completion of pre-SDD testing clears the way for the award of a SDD contract, which is expected in August.
The F136 engine will be fully interchangeable with the competing F135 engine to power the F-35 JSF aircraft, and with all three aircraft versions: 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.
The main goal of Phase III testing was to test a full turbofan engine in both the Conventional Take-Off and Landing (CTOL) and Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) configuration. The two F136 engines in the Phase III tests accumulated more than 200 hours of testing, including 18 hours of STOVL testing.
Bob Griswold, president and general manager of the Fighter Engine Team, said: "Anticipating the SDD award, we are aiming to match or exceed our pre-SDD success by delivering engines on or ahead schedule and producing excellent test results."
Tom Hartmann, vice president of the Fighter Engine Team, said: "We are very proud of the team's accomplishments and look forward to tackling the challenges of the SDD phase. Through the robust Engine Interchangeability Program and processes, the team has been able to add value to the F-35 aircraft design and accelerate the learning during the STOVL testing of the F136 engine."
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.
Based on the current schedule, SDD development testing commences in 2006 and culminates with delivery of the first F136-powered F-35s in 2012.
Editor's notes
GE Transportation - Aircraft Engines, with responsibility for 60 percent of the F136, is developing the 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 participant countries also contribute to the F136 through involvement in engine development and component manufacturing.
Today's GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team can trace its technical roots back to 1994, when GE and the then Allison Engine Company formed a teaming agreement to work on IHPTET - the U.S. Government's Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Program. The FET has steadily proven its business and technology case to produce the F136 interchangeable engine for the F-35 in becoming an integral member of the JSF team.