Forum: F-35 Lightning II

GE and Rolls Royce pull the plug: Norris/ARES

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/de ... d=blogDest

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Well it put up a good fight. Sometimes there's more to it than just building a better engine.

I honestly am not surprised to see this happen.

“The decision, reached jointly by GE and Rolls-Royce leadership, recognizes the continued uncertainty in the development and production schedules for the JSF Program,” the companies said in a joint statement.

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/12/n ... ne-120211/

Meh. No point in investing so much money in what might be a low-volume or canceled project. Better to wait until there's more certainty on the F-35's future.

The DoD and the Armed Services were against it soits all for the best.
The technology will live on and no doubt be reincarnated in some other engine design down the road.

Would it feasible for an F-35 partner nation to purchase the IP and pick up the funding for the F136 for installation on their own platforms? That would give them their own engine option for the JSF and possibly an engine to install on a domestic fighter somewhere down the road?

memzey wrote:

Would it feasible for an F-35 partner nation to purchase the IP and pick up the funding for the F136 for installation on their own platforms? That would give them their own engine option for the JSF and possibly an engine to install on a domestic fighter somewhere down the road?

That would all depend on the cost of the IP (either paltry or astronomical, it's probably one extreme) and the industrial base of the country in question. I could see it as useful for Japan or Korea, as they're some of the only potential JSF customers with the will to build and design their own fighters.

memzey wrote:

Would it feasible for an F-35 partner nation to purchase the IP and pick up the funding for the F136 for installation on their own platforms?

That would be assuming the US gov would sell the IP (it's their's afterall, not GE's) which I'd expect to happen shortly after hell froze over and the devil had learned to ice skate.

southernphantom wrote:

memzey wrote:

Would it feasible for an F-35 partner nation to purchase the IP and pick up the funding for the F136 for installation on their own platforms? That would give them their own engine option for the JSF and possibly an engine to install on a domestic fighter somewhere down the road?

That would all depend on the cost of the IP (either paltry or astronomical, it's probably one extreme) and the industrial base of the country in question. I could see it as useful for Japan or Korea, as they're some of the only potential JSF customers with the will to build and design their own fighters.

How would the US allow some other nation to just build this super engine? It appears it is goin to be a great engine but did not the US fund this entire fiasco and therefore own all the technology that is in it as of now. GE and Rolls Royce did not put up the cash to do this and do not own it as I see it? No one ever said it was not going ot be a great engine. But the US military funded it up till now so how can they just take it and run with it like it was theirs? It is NOT their engine seein how the US tax payer paid for it up till now. If it is stopped does not the US military own the rights to it for when and if they see fit to develope it in the future? Just curious.
Bazz

I had assumed it would be the US government selling the IP but ultimately who the vendor is makes little difference as it would still require congressional approval. I also think this will/could be a great engine (not to say the F135 is not also a great engine - it is) and I'd like to see it in the air.

How long was the F-16 in production until an alternative engine was offered? Maybe the F136 could be revived later down the road with non taxpayer dollars. There's also a next generation bomber in the works, right? Maybe the F136 could power it. What about the F136 as a new engine for the B-52 and/or B-1B?

discofishing wrote:

How long was the F-16 in production until an alternative engine was offered? Maybe the F136 could be revived later down the road with non taxpayer dollars. There's also a next generation bomber in the works, right? Maybe the F136 could power it. What about the F136 as a new engine for the B-52 and/or B-1B?

Well, I would have to say a 4-engine 'Megafortress' might be possible with the size of the F-136.

Why wouldn't F135 work for the 'Megafortress' if the F136 would?

Any engine that was meant for F-35 won't be used for B-1 or the next new bomber even if they do ever get around to creating another new bomber again at all. They would make supercruising a requirement and not care so much about strength in a lower speed range, which is what F-35 goes for instead. So if GE wanted to make a new B-1 or new-bomber engine, they'd either start with a whole new one or use the one from YF-22 & YF-23 as their starting point. For that matter, the B-1R proposal already specified years ago that it would have used that engine's counterpart, which is flying F-22s right now. (It would just have four instead of two.) At least one engine that had been designed for F-35 was available, but for that plane, they didn't want it and chose a supercruiser instead.

Forum: F-35 Lightning II

F136 is dead