Guy Norris/Los Angeles
ROLLS-ROYCE HAS formally signed an agreement giving it full participation in the joint General Electric/Allison development of a cruise engine and lift engine for the Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) aircraft programme.
GE says, that the long expected agreement with R-R, makes the UK company a "full partner for the first time", and is "a natural evolution" of the 1994 teaming deal, between GE and Allison. This was formed, after US Government prompting, to ensure that the ambitious second-phase goals of the Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology (IHPTET) research programme in which the two were involved could still be met.
The team's original charter was to develop turbofan and turbojet technology for a future fighter engine and, at the time, GE hinted that the JAST would be a likely target (Flight International, 27 July- 2 August, 1994).
The subsequent purchase of Allison by R-R and, later, the UK Government's formal commitment to participation in the US-led JAST effort, made the 11 March announcement virtually inevitable.
The agreement formalises continuing work already under way with Allison and GE on the lift engine, dubbed GEA-FXL, now being developed for the McDonnell Douglas (MDC)/Northrop Grumman/British Aerospace JAST contender. R-R will design and manufacture the low-pressure turbine for the 75-80kN (17,000-18,000lb)-thrust class turbofan. The dedicated lift engine selected for the lift-plus/lift-cruise version of the MDC-led JAST design is based around a demonstrator core developed by GE/Allison for part of the IHPTET programme.
The new agreement also gives R-R responsibility, for the design and manufacture of the fan module, for a JAST cruise engine based on the YF120. Allison, meanwhile, is working on turbine and other hot-section components for the engine, most of which will be based on the company's Lamilloy cast-cooled technology. None of the three JAST contenders uses the YF120 engine, but the US Government has funded GE to continue its development for competitive selection during the engineering, manufacturing and development phase. All the teams have selected variants of the Pratt & Whitney F119, chosen ahead of the YF120 to power the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22.
GE says that the YF120 variant aimed at the JAST will be a conventional fixed-cycle turbofan initially, heavily based on the original Advanced Tactical Fighter engine.
The new deal does not affect agreements already under way between Allison, R-R and P&W on three existing JAST contenders.
Source: Flight International
