GUY NORRIS / LOS ANGELES
General Electric has received Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme office clearance to start assembly of the first F136 turbofan following receipt of preliminary design approval for the engine.
The milestone enables GE to start ordering long-lead items and sets in motion the timetable for bringing the first engine to test in mid-2004. Approval comes under Phase III of the $460 million pre-system development and demonstration (SDD) contract awarded to GE, and covers construction of two engines, each with two builds.
Each will form the focus for specific tests and prove the technology now being demonstrated on test rigs. Funding for the follow-on SDD development phase, which GE expects in 2004, will cover construction of nine test engines.
Based on results from the initial rig and pre-SDD tests, GE and the JSF programme office will hold a preliminary design review of the production standard engine in the third quarter of 2005, with a follow-on critical design review in late 2006.
More details of the F136 have also emerged. The engine will have a rugged blisk (bladed disk) high-pressure (HP) compressor as well as a blisk fan. It will also have a Lamilloy HP turbine nozzle, advanced HP turbine blades with thermal barrier coatings, a low-observable axisymmetric exhaust nozzle, a vaneless, counter-rotating low-pressure turbine, single annular combustor, tripass diffuser and corrosion resistant bearings.
Source: Flight International
