PARIS - Through several successful development programs, GE (USA)* Aircraft Engines (GEAE) is dramatically enhancing the capabilities of its fighter engines. Also, new aircraft applications and market opportunities will ensure these engines are positioned for continued leadership in the 21st century.
JSF-F120: The team of GEAE, Allison Advanced Development Company (AADC), and Rolls-Royce Military Aero Engines Ltd. has successfully completed the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program Office's Critical Design Review for the core of the F120 engine for the JSF. This allowed the team to release hardware for component testing, leading to the full core engine test in mid-2000. Key component-rig tests planned during 1999 include: the turbine at GE, the fan at Rolls-Royce, and the combustor at AADC.
JSF-F120 development is funded through a four-year, Phase II core engine contract awarded in 1997. The GE-led team is now preparing for the Phase III contract, a four-year development effort that will lead to testing of a full product turbofan engine in 2003.
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.
The JSF-F120 is designed specifically for the JSF Preferred Weapons System production aircraft. The synergistic strengths of three leading engine companies ensures that the JSF-F120 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.
F110: The world's best-selling engine for the F-16C/D aircraft, the F110 is being enhanced through a more durable, higher-thrust version under development. The F110-GE-129 EFE will be qualified at 34,000 pounds of thrust and offered initially at a thrust rating of 32,000 pounds, with demonstrated growth capability to 36,000 pounds.
Approximately 1,000 hours of aeromechanical and performance testing on the EFE engine has been conducted at GEAE's Evendale site and at the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center at Tullahoma, Tennessee. Next year, the engine will undergo performance and endurance testing at Arnold, with qualification targeted for mid-2001.
The EFE, which will be fully interchangeable with the current F110-GE-129, features a higher efficiency fan, and a more reliable and durable radial afterburner flameholder derived from GE's F414 engine. Operating at today's thrust levels, the EFE will increase the engine service interval by up to 50 percent.
Development continues on the USAF-funded F110 Engine Ejector Nozzle Kit for USAF F-16C/Ds, and is also common for use on the F-15. Scale-model testing is currently under way, with endurance testing and qualification flight testing scheduled for next year.
The USAF field service evaluation of the F110-GE-129 powering the F-15E, completed in December 1998, exceeded all objectives. The two F-15E aircraft accumulated more than 1,900 engine flight hours and more than 600 sorties under extreme conditions - with no spare engine or extra maintenance ever required.
F414: Designated a "model engine development program" by the U.S. Navy, the F414 completed Full Production Qualification in December 1998. The engine has shown excellent operability, reliability, and throttle response while successfully powering seven F/A-18E/F Super Hornet test aircraft at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, completing 3,172 flights and 4,673 flight hours in less than three and one-half years of flight testing.
The Super Hornet program has completed its E&MD phase on schedule and on budget, and the first seven production model Super Hornets have begun Operational Evaluation (OPEVAL) at Naval Air Station China Lake, California. The Navy has ordered 62 Super Hornets and 142 F414 engines during the Low Rate Initial Production Phase and plans to ultimately buy a minimum of 548 aircraft.
Among the most tested fighter engines prior to initial production in mid-1998, the F414 has amassed more than 27,000 hours of flight and ground testing. The F414 is also being evaluated as a potential export fighter and trainer aircraft engine for beyond the year 2000.
Rated at 22,000 pounds (98 kN) thrust, with a nine-to-one thrust-to-weight ratio, the F414 has 35 percent greater thrust than GE's successful F404 engine, which powers more than 1,200 F/A-18 Hornets worldwide. GE has defined a growth development road map for the F414 that could increase its thrust by as much as 25 percent over the next several years.
F404: The F404 is the world's most ubiquitous fighter engine, with more than 3,700 powering the aircraft of several military services worldwide, including the F-117 Stealth Fighters of the U.S. Air Force and the F/A-18 fighter/attack aircraft of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. and other governments worldwide. F404 derivatives also power Sweden's JAS39 Gripen and Singapore's A-4S Super Skyhawk.
Recently, Samsung Aerospace and the Air Force of the Republic of Korea completed a preliminary design review of the F404 in yet another application: the KTX-2 advanced trainer/light combat aircraft. A variant of the F404-402 engine, the F404-102 engine is being modified to power the single-engine KTX-2 by incorporating specific redundant features and a new control system with an advanced, F414-based FADEC (full authority digital electronic control). In addition, the -102 design places particular emphasis on commonality with the in-service F404s, which have accumulated more than seven million flight hours under extremely demanding operational conditions.
GE is supporting Samsung Aerospace Industries Ltd. which, in association with Lockheed Martin Corporation, is developing the cost-effective trainer/combat aircraft. GEAE is on contract for the full-scale development program, including engineering development and flight test engines, and has signed a long-term production agreement. Flight testing is scheduled to begin in 2001 with production scheduled for 2005.