Renowned aircraft engine developers Pratt and Whitney announced their F135 ground test engine hit the 3000 System Development and Demonstration (SDD) mark in total hours logged as the company prepares to begin assembly of the first flight test engine this summer.
The F135 engine will go into the F35 joint strike fighter and the 3000 hours in addition to the 3500 hours already accrued Concept Development Aircraft (CDA) makes for a lot of experience with the power in this concept engine.
“With the experience of thousands of hours of development testing and the constant benefit of lessons learned from the F119 core that has been flight- proven on the F/A-22 Raptor, the F135 is raising the bar for development engine reliability,” said Bill Gostic, vice president of F135 engine programs for Pratt & Whitney. “As SDD testing continues, the entire F135 team is now focused on delivering the first flight test engine.”
This highmark includes the cumulative hours of F135 ground test engines including both Conventional Take-Off and Landing (CTOL)/Carrier Variant (CV) and Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) configuration engines.
To date, the Pratt & Whitney F135 propulsion team has delivered three CTOL/CV configuration and four STOVL configuration F135 engines to test for a total of seven engines delivered for ground testing. Five additional ground test engines will be added to the test cycle throughout the rest of the SDD program, including two this year which will qualify the configuration of the first flight test engine.
In August, Pratt & Whitney will begin assembly of the first flight test engine in support of the F-35’s first flight in August 2006. The first flight test engine will be delivered to Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas, plant in December of this year, with the F135 program achieving Initial Flight Release in January 2006. Low Rate Initial Production deliveries of the F135 are planned to begin in 2009.
The technologically advanced F135 is an evolution of the highly successful F119 engine for the F/A-22 Raptor. Together the F135 and F119 will have logged more than one million flight hours before the F-35’s introduction into operational service in 2012.
The F135 propulsion system team consists of Pratt & Whitney, the prime contractor with responsibility for the main engine and system integration; Rolls-Royce, providing lift components for the STOVL F-35B; and Hamilton Sundstrand, provider of the F135’s control system, external accessories and gearbox.
Pratt & Whitney military engine models include the F135 for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter; the F119 powering the F/A-22 Raptor; the F117 for the C-17 Globemaster III; the F100 for F-15 and F-16 fighters; the J52 for the EA-6B Prowler; the TF33 powering AWACS, Joint STARS, B-52, C-141 and KC-135 aircraft; the TF30 for the F-111, the PT6 for T-6A and UH-1N aircraft; and JT15 for the T-1A trainer and Pegasus UCAV.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
