F135
In April, Pratt & Whitney won an initial contract, valued at just $23 million, for long lead hardware for six engines to power the first batch of five low-rate initial production (LRIP) F-35s. P&W says the “contract is the first portion of a full LRIP contract valued at up to $120 million through January 2010”. The company expects by the end of May to complete the flight-clearance review of the F135 for the projected first flight of the CTOL F-35A late this year having inspected and cleared test engines 634 (accelerated mission testing) and 638 (qualification engine). The third of a planned series of 21 flight test engines and spares is due to be delivered in July. Tests of the next STOVL engine are due to begin in November, with a flight-clearance review planned for July 2007. Nine test engines are in the cycle, with 800 test hours due to be added in 2006 on top of more than 5,000h SDD test hours and 3,600h pre-SDD. The first flight of the F-35B STOVL variant is due at the end of September 2007, and the F-35C CV variant in January 2009.
F136
In April, the General Electric-Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team completed the integrated baseline review of the F136 with Lockheed Martin and the F-35 joint programme office in the run-up to a scheduled preliminary design review later this year, and critical design review in 2007. In parallel with the design efforts, additional engine and component testing will be conducted in 2006. Engine testing will continue on a pre-SDD STOVL engine to further develop the complex control system software, with 100h due to be run in 2006. Component testing is under way on the combustor, afterburner and control system to prove design concepts planned for the product configuration. In 2007 further tests on two pre-SDD engines will amass another 300h while the first hardware for the SDD engines is due to enter manufacturing. Seven product-configuration engines for ground testing, six for flight testing and one spare will be built. The F136 will complete over 10,500h of testing before its planned 2012 service entry.
Source: Flight International
