International Aero Engines (IAE) is poised to reveal plans to develop a next generation of engines to meet the thrust needs of future Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies from 2008.
The move, if confirmed, marks a significant change in fortunes for the V2500 engine family and may spell the end of Pratt & Whitney's plans to compete against the CFM International CFM56 with an independent engine in the 25,000-40,000lb thrust (111-178kN) class. P&W had planned to take on the CFM56 unilaterally with the PW8000, a geared turbofan based on the PW6000 now in final development for the Airbus A318.
P&W, which holds a 32.5% share in IAE, revised its PW8000 plans in mid-1999 to aim at higher thrust levels to offer a potential competitor to the Trent 500 in development by fellow IAE partner Rolls-Royce for the A340-500/600. The move mystified some observers who believed Airbus may have pressured P&W into the move to deflect speculation over the long-term future of the A320 family. To back up the move, however, P&W and Rolls-Royce, recently reaffirmed their commitment to the V2500 by revealing studies of a refanned variant dubbed the A7. The latest decision lays to rest questions over the future of the IAE consortium.
As well as confirming its intent to launch a long term successor, IAE is also expected to announce plans for an interim update of the family. While no details were available as Flight International closed for press, it is likely to revolve around reviving refanning the engine with a cropped version of the wide chord, swept fan devised for the Trent. This was originally conceived under efforts to increase thrust by up to 10% beyond the -A5's 33,000lb-thrust limit for the A321-200.
The next generation plan for the V2500 counters CFMI's TECH56 effort, aimed at developing technologies to update the present family as well as provide the basis for a new series of CFM56 engines.
Source: Flight International
