EVENDALE, Ohio - The JSF-F120 Engine Team has negotiated a $440 million, Phase III effort with the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program Office to test product fighter engines for JSF aircraft under development for the 21st century.
The Phase III effort consists of a firm requirement for $115 million and an option for $325 million and is a follow-on to the four-year Phase II contract awarded to the JSF-F120 engine team in 1996. Phase III firm and option efforts will cover engine development activities for the period of October 2000 to September 2004.
The JSF-120 engine team consists of GE Aircraft Engines (GEAE) in Cincinnati, Ohio; Allison Advanced Development Company (AADC) in Indianapolis, Indiana; Rolls-Royce plc (R-R) in Bristol, England; and Philips Machinefabrieken (PMF) in The Netherlands.
"This contract award is another important step in the JSF-F120 team's mission to power one of the most significant fighter aircraft for the next century," said W. James McNerney, president of GE Aircraft Engines.
While operating on schedule and on cost for the Phase II program, the JSF-120 team is preparing to run a full core engine test in mid-2000. The team successfully completed the JSF Office's Critical Design Review for the JSF-F120 core earlier this year and has released hardware for component testing. Key component-rig tests planned during 1999 include: the turbine at GEAE and the combustor at AADC.
The Phase III contract, which also includes component and subsystem testing, will lead to full JSF-F120 engine testing for the winning JSF aircraft contractor in the first half of 2003.
In Phase III, JSF-120 engines will be tested for the various JSF variants: Short Take Off Vertical Landing (STOVL) for the U.S. Marine Corps and United Kingdom Royal Navy, Conventional Takeoff/Landing (CTOL) for the U.S. Air Force, and the Carrier Variant (CV) for the U.S. Navy.
From the onset, the JSF-F120 engine has been designed specifically for the JSF PWSC production aircraft. The synergistic strengths of the three leading engine companies ensures that the JSF-120 is a low-risk entry in the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (E&MD) phase, resulting in a production engine that will meet JSF goals for affordability, supportability, and performance.
For the JSF-F120, GE is developing a multistage blisk compressor, radial augmentor and dual control system, and advanced exhaust system components. AADC and GE are jointly developing a coupled turbine system (an integrated high-pressure/low-pressure counter-rotating design), while AADC is responsible for the combustor/diffuser system and the gearbox. Rolls-Royce is developing an increased-flow, three-stage, long-chord hollow Titanium blisk fan.
PMF joined the JSF-120 team last month and will lead a consortium of Dutch, Norwegian, and Danish companies to join in the design, development, and manufacture of the propulsion system. The PMF consortium will develop world-class technologies to be applied to a wide variety of JSF-120 engine components.