Evendale, Ohio - The GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team LLC has successfully resumed testing its F136 Joint Strike Fighter engine. The engine ran in Short Take-Off Vertical Landing (STOVL) configuration at the GE - Aviation outdoor test facility located in Peebles, Ohio and marks the first milestone under its $2.4B System Design and Demonstration contract that was awarded in August of 2005.
"We are thrilled to have this engine back on test," said Jean Lydon-Rodgers of GE - Aviation and President of the Fighter Engine Team. "The team has done an outstanding job, once again, to begin the engine testing on-schedule."
Testing on the pre-SDD standard engine will include control system architecture development and additional analyses of performance and aeromechanical characteristics. The engine is fully equipped with STOVL common hardware lift-system, which includes the Rolls-Royce LiftFan®, roll-posts and 3 Bearing Swivel Duct (3BSD). The engine is slated to run through April and a total of 100 hours of test are planned.
In addition to full-scale development work, the F136 SDD phase includes the production and qualification of 14 engines, seven of which are for ground-test, and six plus one spare for flight-tests. The first F136 engine is expected to test in mid-2008, but earlier risk-reduction tests are due to begin in 2006 using one of the Fighter Engine Team's original pre-SDD development engines.
"On schedule, within budget and with a quality engine -- that's what the F136 program continues to be about. This important milestone reinforces the importance of engine competition in controlling cost, timeliness and quality in the Joint Strike Fighter program," said Tom Hartmann of Rolls-Royce, Senior Vice President of the Fighter Engine Team.
The F136 engine is expected to flight test on the F-35 in 2010, with production engines available in 2012. This occurs during the fourth lot of F-35 aircraft production, which is very early in the overall F-35 production program.
The F-35 is a next-generation, multi-role stealth aircraft designed to replace the AV-8B Harrier, A-10, F-16, F/A-18 Hornet and the United Kingdom's Harrier GR.7 and Sea Harrier, all of which are currently powered by GE or Rolls-Royce motor making them the engine powers of choice for the U.S. and U.K. militaries. Potential F-35 production for the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Marines and international customers, including the UK Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, may reach as many as 5000 to 6000 aircraft over the next 30 years.
As the world-wide leaders in performance based logistics, military engine depot management, single engine, carrier, Short Take-Off Vertical Landing (STOVL), and stealth aircraft operations, the F136 will be fully and physically interchangeable to power the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The F136 was the first F-35 engine to offer a single engine configuration for all three versions of the aircraft: STOVL for the U.S. Marine Corps and U.K. Royal Navy, CTOL for the U.S. Air Force, and the CV for the U.S. Navy.
With the infusion of best practices and improved technology, the F136 is expected to exceed requirements for maintainability, affordability, and reliability for all JSF variants, while enhancing the ability of the U.S. services and international partners to cooperate in joint coalition operations.
Editor's notes
GE - Aviation, with responsibility for 60 percent of the F136 program, is developing the core compressor and coupled high-pressure/low-pressure turbine system components, controls and accessories, and the augmentor. Rolls-Royce, with 40 percent of the F136 program, is responsible for the front fan, combustor, stages 2 and 3 of the low-pressure turbine, and gearboxes. International participant countries are also contributing to the F136 through involvement in engine development and component manufacturing.