Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES
General Electric has committed to a self-funded qualification programme for an upgraded version of the F110-129 engine to power Boeing F-15E and Lockheed Martin F-16C/D fighters from 2000 onwards.
The company originally hoped to tie the launch of the -129EFE (enhanced fighter effort) to the selection of GE-powered F-16s by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but now believes that the potential size of the market warrants it going ahead, even without the long-awaited UAE decision.
The company estimates that its share of the F110/F100 class market over the next 15 years could be at least 1,000 new engines, not counting a substantial retrofit market. "We feel there is a really large potential market for the F-15 and F-16 that could grow even further if there are delays to the JSF[Joint Strike Fighter] and F-22," says -129EFE programme marketing manager Jeff Reno.
The EFE will be offered initially at thrust levels up to 151kN (34,000lb), with further growth available to 160kN. GE says, however, that the thrust improvements, which include higher core flow, can equally be traded for a 50% increase in engine-service intervals.
The main elements of the EFE package include a long-chord bladed-disk fan and an advanced "radial augmentor" afterburner with 25% fewer parts than the current unit. Both are derived largely from the YF120 being developed as the alternative powerplant for the JSF.
The EFE will also include a low-drag nozzle which, on tests with an F-16, has demonstrated the potential for 2- 4% increases in range by reducing "boat-tail" interference drag. The axisymmetric thrust-vectoring engine nozzle is also being offered as an option.
"We plan to begin altitude qualification at AEDC (Arnold Engineering Development Center), in Tullahoma, Tennessee, in the first quarter of 1998," says Reno.
Qualification runs will be performed behind representative screens or intakes of both F-15 and F-16 aircraft, enabling both to be approved by December 1999.
"The flight test part of this is still being negotiated with the US Air Force," adds Reno, who says that the notional start of the tests could be as early as the first quarter of 2000. GE hopes to define the planned flight-test programme by the end of 1997.
Source: Flight International
