GE and R-R aim to find other applications for F136 turbofan
The General Electric/Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team has declared its intention to seek new combat aircraft applications for the F136 turbofan beyond the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), for which it was created.
Although development of other applications has always been implicit under the Fighter Engine Team's charter, the recent acknowledgment by the US government of the venture's official "joint" status has boosted confidence in a longer-term future.
The move comes as full-up engine runs begin at GE's altitude test site in Evendale, Ohio following an initial 1h 17min of operation amassed during the F136's first two starts on 21 July. "Both light-offs were 'soft', with a smooth transition to idle," says the team, which plans to run up the power on the next series of tests to 103% fan speed for overspeed evaluations. These will also form part of aeromechanical, performance and engine operability tests to be conducted over the next several weeks, says GE, which has 60% of the programme.
All the current work is taking place under the four-year JSF pre-system development and demonstration (SDD) Phase 3, which runs through 2005, when the team expects contract award for the SDD phase. Engine tests are expected to run until December, with sea-level static and simulated high-altitude, high-Mach tests being conducted. In early 2005, the team plans to use the same engine for endurance tests, with a second F136 to join the programme around the same time.
Rated at up to 40,000lb thrust (180kN), the F136 fills a gap at the upper end of the GE and Rolls-Royce military-engine power ranges and could be the basis for a future joint family, says Fighter Engine Team president Bob Griswold. "We have the F110 that powers the B-1, B-2, U-2 and several fighters, and we hope that as the years go by a similar family will develop." Tom Hartmann, senior vice-president and head of the R-R portion of the programme, says the F136-based family could be a candidate for future re-engining or for "things that are on the drawing board".
The first full SDD engine is due to run in 2007, with delivery of the first production F136 in late 2011 for assembly in Lot 4 F-35s due for completion in early 2012. First competitive engine purchases, in which the F136 will become a choice against the Pratt & Whitney F135, are not due until Lot 6 in 2014.
GUY NORRIS / LOS ANGELES
Source: Flight International
