Teledyne Continental Motors is to power Lockheed Martin's Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missile (JASSM) with the J402-100, a new derivative of its J402-400 turbojet.
The deal, which covers production of up to 3,700 units, follows the completion of a powered test flight at the White Sands missile range late last year. The -100 series turbojet, a derivative of the Boeing AGM-84 Harpoon missile's -400, is expected to be qualified for the JASSM within four months and to enter production late next year.
"The new engine is more fuel-efficient at the same thrust," says Teledyne. Initial production lots will be based on the J402-100-2, while later lots will be offered with an enhanced -100-9B version.
Improvements over the basic J402 for the JASSM engine include aerodynamic and design refinements to the first axial compressor stage, and a more efficient turbine section. Teledyne adds that the"-9B builds upon the low-cost configuration of the -2 engine, and adds advanced aerodynamic components for a further improvement to engine performance".
Spurred by its JASSM success, Teledyne appears to believe it may still win some business on the Tactical Tomahawk, despite Raytheon's December announcement, which effectively ended Teledyne's involvement. Teledyne, was "slated to be sole source" on the JASSM and Tactical Tomahawk with the J402, but was ditched by Raytheon late last year after apparent development problems.
Raytheon awarded Williams International a contract to study an alternative engine after Teledyne was "unable to demonstrate the required performance with the J402 derivative". In particular, Raytheon says, Teledyne's engine failed to "meet the required combination of fuel efficiency and maximum thrust, within the schedule required for the Tactical Tomahawk programme".
Although the outcome of the 60-day Williams study has yet to be announced, Teledyne says: "We are still working on a design that we think is efficient for that particular missile".
The revised Williams bid, which Raytheon says is "substantially different" from its original Tomahawk proposal, is based on a smaller version of the F122, which powers the KEPD Taurus.
Source: Flight International
