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53-543: In the initial plans for Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, all early JSFs were to be powered by an engine derived from Pratt & Whitney 's F119 turbofan intended for the F-22 Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF), but it was planned that engine contracts would be competitively tendered from Lot 6 onward. The engines selected would be either the F119 derivative ("F119-JSF") or an engine produced by

106-484: A 5-stage compressor driven by a single-stage turbine; both the fan and compressor stages are one-piece blisks . The STOVL variant's shaft-driven LiftFan is connected to the low-pressure spool and engaged through a clutch. The low-pressure spool's 3 turbine stages enable more work to be extracted to power the LiftFan, while the conventional takeoff variant retains this architecture for commonality. The annular combustor case

159-719: A complement to the F-22 Raptor . The Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) program was created in 1993, implementing one of the recommendations of a United States Department of Defense (DoD) "Bottom-Up Review to include the United States Navy in the Common Strike Fighter program." The review also led the Pentagon to continue the F-22 Raptor and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet programs, cancel

212-555: A production-size fan and functional augmenter allowing several run periods to full afterburner operation. The GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team successfully completed Short Take Off, Vertical Landing (STOVL) testing on an F136 engine at the GE testing facility at Peebles, Ohio on 16 July 2008. The first complete new-build F136 engine began testing 30 January 2009, under the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) contract with

265-573: A result of these media reports, then Australian defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon requested a formal briefing from the Australian Department of Defence on the simulation. This briefing stated that the reports of the simulation were inaccurate and that it did not compare the F-35's performance against that of other aircraft. Andrew Hoehn, Director of RAND Project Air Force, made the following statement: "Recently, articles have appeared in

318-568: A solid piece of material, or made by welding individual blades to a rotor disk. The term is used mainly in aerospace engine design. Blisks may also be known as integrally bladed rotors ( IBR ). Blisk manufacturing has been used since the mid-1980s. It was first used by Sermatech-Lehr (now known as GKN Aerospace ) in 1985 for the compressors of the T700 helicopter engine. Since then, its use has continued to increase in major applications for both compressors and fan blade rotors. Examples include

371-561: A source for crack initiation and subsequent propagation. Efficiency improvements of up to 8% are possible. Any damage to integrally bladed rotor blades beyond minor dents requires the full removal of the engine so that the rotor may be replaced or, if possible, replacement blades welded on. Maintenance of this nature cannot be done on the flightline and often must be performed at a specialized facility. Integrally bladed rotor blades must undergo rigorous harmonic vibration testing as well as dynamic balancing to an extremely high standard, since

424-728: Is a development and acquisition program intended to replace a wide range of existing fighter , strike , and ground attack aircraft for the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and formerly Turkey. After a competition between the Boeing X-32 and the Lockheed Martin X-35 , the latter aircraft was selected for a contract award and developed into

477-536: Is limited to design work only, as the stop-work prevents their use of the existing hardware. On 12 April 2011, GE reduced its team on project from 1,000 workers down to 100, who will work on the F136 and engine technologies for "future combat aircraft". GE will redeploy the workers to commercial projects, but will not hire the hundreds of new engineers it was expecting. On 25 April 2011, the Department of Defense ended

530-453: Is made from "Lamilloy" and cooled by bleed air from the compressor. The two spools are counterrotating, eliminating the stage 1 low pressure turbine nozzle and thus reducing parts count. The vanes behind the turbines are made of ceramic matrix composites (CMC), enabling higher operating temperatures for greater efficiency and thrust. Like the competing F135, the F136 was to have a stealthy augmentor, or afterburner , that blocks line-of-sight of

583-695: The F-16 Agile Falcon in the late 1980s, essentially an enlarged F-16, and continued to mull other designs. In 1992, the Marine Corps and Air Force agreed to jointly develop the Common Affordable Lightweight Fighter, which continued development efforts under ASTOVL. CALF project was chosen after Paul Bevilaqua persuaded the Air Force that his team's concept (if stripped of its lift system ) had potential as

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636-733: The F-35 Lightning II , which will replace various tactical aircraft, including the US F-16 , A-10 , F/A-18A-D , AV-8B , EA-6B and British Harrier GR7, GR9s and Tornado GR4 . The projected average annual cost of the program is $ 12.5 billion in 2012 with an estimated cost in 2024 of $ 2 trillion over its lifespan. The JSF program was the result of the merger of the Common Affordable Lightweight Fighter (CALF) and Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) projects. The merged project continued under

689-901: The Future Carrier Borne Aircraft project. This program sought a replacement for the Sea Harrier (and later the Harrier GR7 ); the Joint Strike Fighter was selected in January 2001. During concept definition, two Lockheed Martin airplanes were flight-tested: the X-35A (which was later converted into the X-35B), and the larger-winged X-35C. Arguably the most persuasive demonstration of the X-35's capability

742-698: The Lockheed Martin X-35 selected as the winner of the JSF competition to become the F-35 , Pratt & Whitney's F119-JSF became the F135 , while the alternate GE/RR YF120-FX engine was designated F136. On 21 July 2004, the F136 began full engine runs at GE's facility in Evendale, Ohio . The engine ran for over an hour during two separate runs. In August 2005, the United States Department of Defense awarded

795-428: The data into China's Chengdu J-20 and Shenyang FC-31 fighters. On February 1, 2010, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announced that, due to delays and other problems with the JSF development program, he was removing Major General David R. Heinz from command of the program and would withhold $ 614 million in bonuses from Lockheed Martin. On February 16, 2010, Deputy Defense Secretary Bill Lynn announced that

848-504: The Air Force's Multi-Role Fighter (MRF) and the Navy's Advanced Attack/Fighter (A/F-X) programs, and curtail F-16 and F/A-18C/D procurement. The JAST program office was established on 27 January 1994 to develop aircraft , weapons , and sensor technology with the aim of replacing several disparate US and UK aircraft with a single family of aircraft; the majority of those produced would replace F-16s. Merrill McPeak , former Chief of Staff of

901-630: The Australian press with assertions regarding a war game in which analysts from the RAND Corporation were involved. Those reports are not accurate. RAND did not present any analysis at the war game relating to the performance of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, nor did the game attempt detailed adjudication of air-to-air combat. Neither the game nor the assessments by RAND in support of the game undertook any comparison of

954-854: The Concept Demonstration phase with an investment of US$ 10 million. This investment allowed Canada to participate in the extensive and rigorous competitive process where Boeing and Lockheed Martin developed and competed their prototype aircraft. Studies supporting JAST/JSF started in 1993 and led to STOVL submissions to the DOD by McDonnell Douglas , Northrop , Lockheed and Boeing : Two contracts to develop prototypes were awarded on November 16, 1996, one each to Lockheed Martin and Boeing . Each firm would produce two aircraft to demonstrate conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL), carrier takeoff and landing (CV version), and short takeoff and vertical landing ( STOVL ). McDonnell Douglas ' bid

1007-730: The Conservatives declared that the total cost over 20 years would be $ 16 billion. On 19 October 2015 the Liberal Party of Canada under Justin Trudeau won a majority in part on a campaign promise to not purchase the F-35, but instead "one of the many, lower-priced options that better match Canada's defence needs". Concerns about the F-35's performance have resulted partially from reports of simulations by RAND Corporation in which three regiments of Chinese Sukhoi Su-27 fighters defeat six F-22s by denying tanker refueling. As

1060-666: The Defense Department has not requested funding for the alternate F136 engine program, but Congress has maintained program funding. On 19 December 2009, U.S. Congress approved continued funding for the F136 engine program in fiscal year 2010. The U.S. Defense Department did not request FY 2010 funding for the F136 engine program. In a report filed on 18 June 2009, the House Armed Services Committee cited Pratt & Whitney F135 engine program cost overruns of $ 1.872 billion as cause to continue funding

1113-504: The F-35 inlet, which was revised in 2005 to increase mass flow to 400 lb/s (181.4 kg/s) for greater thrust due to aircraft weight growth. The F136 produced 28,000 lbf (125 kN) of thrust in military power and 43,000 lbf (191 kN) in full afterburner, same as the F135 but with greater temperature margins due to the higher air mass flow, resulting in longer hot-section parts life and greater potential for future growth. In

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1166-426: The F136 engine because it is not in their best interest. By then, the six engines had logged more than 1,200 hours of testing since 2009. During the year, GE said that development of the engines was 80% complete; the remaining work would have required US$ 1.9-2.6 billion in funding. The F136 is a twin-spool axial-flow low-bypass turbofan. It has a 3-stage low-aspect ratio fan driven by a 3-stage low-pressure turbine, and

1219-608: The F136 engine. On 2 November 2009, the F136 team said that they would redesign a small part of the diffuser leading to the combustor after a failure during testing. Testing resumed on January 22, 2010. The GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team is currently in the fourth year of its System Development and Demonstration (SDD) contract with the US Government Joint Program Office. The Fighter Engine Team has totaled more than 800 hours of testing on pre-SDD and SDD engines. In early 2010, full afterburning thrust

1272-698: The F136 to the Pentagon on 28 September 2009. The fixed-price approach would cover initial F136 engine production, beginning with the F136 second production lot. According to the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team, the proposal would shift significant cost risk from taxpayers to the Fighter Engine Team until head-to-head competition begins between the F136 and the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine in 2013. From 2006 to 2010

1325-571: The GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team successfully completed its Critical Design Review (CDR) for the F136. During CDR, the U.S. Government's Joint Program Office for the F-35 Lightning II validated and approved the design of the engine. Also during the review, every aspect of the engine design was analyzed and evaluated in order to proceed with the building of the first full development engines. The process involved 80 detailed component and module design reviews, involving technical experts from

1378-596: The GE and Rolls-Royce team a $ 2.4 billion contract to develop its F136 engine. The contract was for the system development and demonstration (SDD) phase of the F136 initiative, scheduled to run until September 2013. The US Defense budget announced on 6 February 2006 excluded the F136 — leaving Pratt & Whitney, maker of the F135 engine, as the sole provider of engines for the Lockheed Martin F-35 fighters. Congress, however, overturned this request and allocated funds for FY 2007 later in 2006. In November 2006,

1431-873: The GE/Allison Fighter Engine Team and initially designated "YF120-FX"; RR would join the GE/Allison team shortly after. Derived from GE's YF120 turbofan that was also originally for the ATF program, the engine had further hot section developments by Allison and fan developments by RR; in 1995, Allison was acquired by RR and the subsequent GE/RR Fighter Engine Team became a co-operation between GE Aviation in Cincinnati, Ohio , United States (60% share), and Rolls-Royce in Bristol , United Kingdom, and Indianapolis, Indiana , US (40% share). In 2001, with

1484-602: The General Electric/Rolls-Royce team successfully completed a 3-month preliminary design review by the F-35 Program Office and the prime contractor, Lockheed Martin. Because the F136 was in a less mature development state than the F135, GE/RR was able to better adapt its design to the changes resulting from the F-35's weight growth; the F136's fan and core airflow was upsized to better match the aircraft's revised inlet. On 13 February 2008,

1537-702: The JAST name until the engineering, manufacturing and development (EMD) phase, during which the project became the Joint Strike Fighter. The CALF was a DARPA program to develop a STOVL strike fighter (SSF), originally under the Advanced Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (ASTOVL) project, for the United States Marine Corps and replacement for the F-16 Fighting Falcon . The United States Air Force passed over

1590-719: The JPO, General Electric and Rolls-Royce. On 20 March 2008, the F136 successfully completed a high-altitude afterburner testing program at the US Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tennessee, including common exhaust hardware for the F-35 Lightning II aircraft. All test objectives were reached as planned using an engine configured with Conventional Takeoff and Landing (CTOL) and Short Takeoff Vertical Landing (STOVL) common exhaust systems. The engine configuration included

1643-472: The JSF program has led to a more conservative and open-ended Future Vertical Lift program. Blisk A blisk ( portmanteau of bladed disk ) is a turbomachine component comprising both rotor disk and blades as a single part instead of a disk assembled with individual removable blades. Blisks generally have better aerodynamics than conventional rotors with single blades and are lighter. They may be additively manufactured, integrally cast, machined from

General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 - Misplaced Pages Continue

1696-937: The Rocketdyne RS-68 rocket engine and the General Electric F110 turbofan. The F-35B variant of the Joint Strike Fighter uses blisks to achieve short take-off and vertical landing . Engine manufacturer CFM International is using blisk technology in the compressor section of its LEAP-X demonstrator engine program, which has completed full-scale rig testing. PowerJet SaM146 engines used on Sukhoi Superjet 100s are also equipped with blisks. General Electric 's Passport (formerly "TechX") engine uses blisks for both its main 52" fan as well as for 5 of its 10 high pressure compressor stages. The GEnx already uses blisks in some stages. Instead of making bare compressor disks and attaching

1749-795: The STOVL configuration, the F136 produced 18,000 lbf (80.1 kN) of lift thrust. Combined with thrust from the LiftFan (20,000 lbf or 89.0 kN) and two roll posts (1,950 lbf or 8.67 kN each), the Rolls-Royce LiftSystem produced a total of 41,900 lbf (186 kN) of thrust. This compares with the maximum thrust of 23,800 lbf (106 kN) for the Harrier's Rolls-Royce Pegasus engine. Data from Air International, Aviation Week Related development Comparable engines Related lists Joint Strike Fighter Joint Strike Fighter ( JSF )

1802-634: The UK Minister of Defence Procurement, said the X-35 consistently outperformed the X-32, although both met or exceeded requirements. The development of the JSF was jointly funded by the United States , United Kingdom , Italy , the Netherlands , Canada , Turkey , Australia , Norway and Denmark . In July 2019 United States removed Turkey from the Joint Strike Fighter program, following

1855-584: The US Government Joint Program Office for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. This marked the first complete engine assembled following US Government validation of the F136 design in 2008. The milestone was achieved one month ahead of schedule. Citing the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 , the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team submitted an unsolicited fixed-price offer for

1908-535: The US would buy a total of 2,443 JSFs. In April 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported that computer spies, allegedly Chinese but acknowledged to be from uncertain sources, had penetrated the database and acquired terabytes of secret information about the fighter, possibly compromising its future effectiveness. The state-run Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) has been alleged to incorporate

1961-591: The United States Air Force, has complained that Defense Secretary Les Aspin 's decision to force all three services to use a single airframe greatly increased the costs and difficulty of the project. In November 1995, the United Kingdom signed a memorandum of understanding to become a formal partner, and agreed to pay $ 200 million, or 10% of the concept demonstration phase. In 1997, Canada 's Department of National Defence signed on to

2014-399: The blades later, blisks are single elements combining the two. This eliminates the need to attach the blades to the disk (via screws, bolts, etc.), thus decreasing the number of components in the compressor, while at the same time decreasing drag and increasing efficiency of air compression in the engine. The elimination of the dovetail attachment found on traditional turbine blades eliminates

2067-465: The contract with GE and demanded that the engines built to date be turned over. On 5 May 2011, GE and RR offered to pay for the development through FY2012 and asked for access to the materials. By switching to self funding the cost would reduce from $ 480 million a year to only $ 100 million, 60% to be paid by GE and 40% to be paid by RR. After self-funding the project GE and Rolls-Royce announced on 2 December 2011, that they would not continue development of

2120-477: The country's acquisition of the Russian S-400 missile system . Turkey had planned to buy 100 F-35 Lightning II jets. Lockheed Martin 's X-35 would become the basis of the F-35 Lightning II , currently in production and service; Pratt & Whitney 's YF119-PW-611 would be the basis for the F135 -PW-600 on the production F-35B. On April 6, 2009, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that

2173-450: The damage and wear are within thresholds set by the design authority, it is possible that the blisks can be repaired. Repair of blisk components is complex and first requires an accurate 3D representation of the component. The quickest way to do this is by 3D scanning the product. After the part is scanned, an STL file (stereolithograph) can be passed to a CNC code generating software such as NX CAM . The tool paths are regenerated to suit

General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 - Misplaced Pages Continue

2226-477: The fighting qualities of particular fighter aircraft." Furthermore, Maj. Richard Koch, chief of USAF Air Combat Command's advanced air dominance branch is reported to have said that "I wake up in a cold sweat at the thought of the F-35 going in with only two air-dominance weapons" with an Aviation Week article casting an extremely skeptical eye over the (USAF) source of claims that the F-35 would be "400% more effective" than projected opponents. The experience of

2279-422: The final blisk shape. The measurement and inspection of blisks is crucial for guaranteeing engine performance carried out at the end of the manufacturing processes. Traditionally this has been achieved using tactile devices, like coordinate-measuring machines (CMM), but as geometries and requirements increase, the trend in modern factories is to carry out 3D scanning inspection systems. This has advantages of

2332-475: The method of achieving STOVL flight, with the Department of Defense judging that the higher performance lift fan system was worth the extra risk. When near to the ground, the Boeing X-32 suffered from the problem of hot air from the exhaust circulating back to the main engine, which caused the thrust to weaken and the engine to overheat. The United States Department of Defense officials and William Bach ,

2385-401: The natural damping of the dovetail attachment of a typical turbine blade is no longer present. Blisks can be produced with several different manufacturing processes, including CNC milling, investment casting , electro chemical machining , 3D printing , or welding . Research is being conducted to produce them using friction welding of "near net" part shapes that are then machined down to

2438-463: The program will be delayed one year. According to some estimates, overruns could increase the program's total costs to $ 388 billion, a 50% increase from the initial price tag. Many of the program's financial and technical complications result from the Marine version of the JSF, capable of vertical take-offs and landings. On 11 March 2010, United States Senate Committee on Armed Services investigated

2491-542: The progress of the JSF program in a meeting with Pentagon officials, emphasizing cost due to the risk of a Nunn-McCurdy process. According to the Government Accountability Office , F-35A cost has risen from $ 50m in 2002, via $ 69m in 2007 to $ 74m in 2010, all measured in 2002 dollars. Canada reviewed their commitment to the project in December 2012, due to the cost overruns. The decision

2544-442: The speed of measurement compared to tactile devices, whilst collecting 3D data to relate back to design characteristics. Using 3D data, parts can be catalogued in this way, often called digital twin , allowing monitoring of the product through its life-cycle. Engine-run blisks pose their own set of unique requirements. After parts have been in service in the engine, noticeable amounts of damage and wear will be observed. Provided that

2597-446: The turbine blades and a convergent-divergent nozzle with serrated flaps that reduce the infrared signature of the exhaust plume. During ground testing, the F136 used the same exhaust system as the F135. The engine would be controlled by a BAE-supplied full authority digital engine control ( FADEC ). Because the F136 was designed well into the F-35's System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase, it could better match its fan and core to

2650-493: Was made following a report by auditing firm KPMG that showed that Canada's purchase would cost C$ 45bn over 42 years. Rona Ambrose , Canada's public works minister said: “We have hit the reset button and are taking the time to do a complete assessment of all available aircraft.” Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced Canada's plan to buy the F-35 in 2010 saying that the purchase price was $ 9 billion, but did not provide operating cost estimates. During an election campaign in 2011,

2703-410: Was reached in testing of the first production standard engine. On 24 March 2011, the Department of Defense issued a 90-day temporary stop work order after Congress failed to pass the defense budget. GE declared that it would continue work on the engine program with their own funds in spite of the stop-work order, as allowed in the order and as had been suggested by Schwartz the previous year. However GE

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2756-566: Was rejected in part due to the complexity of its design. Lockheed Martin and Boeing were each given $ 750 million to develop their concept demonstrators and the definition of the Preferred Weapon System Concept (PWSC). The aim of this funding limit was to prevent one or both contractors from bankrupting themselves in an effort to win such an important contract. Also in 1996, the UK Ministry of Defence launched

2809-504: Was the final qualifying Joint Strike Fighter flight trials, in which the X-35B STOVL aircraft took off in less than 500 feet (150 m), went supersonic, and landed vertically – a feat that Boeing 's entry was unable to achieve. The contract for System Development and Demonstration (SDD) was awarded on 26 October 2001 to Lockheed Martin, whose X-35 beat the Boeing X-32 . One of the main reasons for this choice appears to have been

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