Pratt & Whitney plans to deliver its first full production standard F119 engine for the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 fighter test programme in November.
The powerplant, the 18th of 26 flight test engines the company will deliver by the end of 2000, will form P&W's production endurance demonstration engine. "It will accomplish the full endurance demonstration that is needed for service release," says F119/F-22 programme manager, Tom Farmer.
The endurance run will consist of 4,325 cycles starting from early 2000, representing half of the engine's planned life. The subsequent depot inspection will be a critical milestone for the F119, which is designed with higher built-in reliability levels than any previous US military engine.
The delivery of engine number 18 will coincide with P&W's planned meeting with the Defense Acquisition Board (DAB), when a decision is due to be made on the release of funding for Lot 1 production engines. If this is secured, the company plans to build 12 engines for the first four aircraft, including four spares, from the end of 2001. P&W is already on contract to deliver six powerplants for the "production representative vehicles" in 2001. In all, the company plans to deliver up to 777 F119s by 2013.
Full flight release for the engine is expected in March, following a successful initial flight test phase. By early January, the two test F-22s, numbers 4001 and 4002, had amassed more than 200 flight test hours and over 95 flights combined. Aircraft 4001, which is expanding the high speed end of the envelope, is now committed to building supersonic time in supercruise after breaking the sound barrier without afterburner last October. Aircraft 4002 is tasked with expanding the manoeuverability envelope of the F-22.
Farmer says engine performance to date has been well received. "The engine has not seriously delayed any flight, though we had a faulty oil sensor that showed on 45min. It's been fine since."
Source: Flight International
