Forum: General F-35 Forum

FARNBOROUGH: Pratt to test new adaptive fan F135 variant next year By:Dave Majumdar 12 July 2012

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... ar-374283/

"Pratt & Whitney hopes to test a new adaptive fan variant of its F135 afterburning turbofan in the first quarter of 2013, company officials say.

"We think that'll be a game-changer going forward," says Bill Gostic, P&W vice-president for advanced programmes and technology. Combined with a new very high pressure ratio core, the prototype forms the basis of P&W's entrant into the US Air Force Research Laboratory's adaptive engine technology development (AETD) programme....

...The US Navy is also interested in the variable engine technology, but the service is not as far along in its programme as the USAF. The USN needs a new fighter to replace the Boeing F/A-18E/F in the mid-2030s. USN officials have said that they want greater range and kinematic performance out of their future next generation fighter....

...The shaping required of a sixth-generation stealth fighter engine will not look like anything that has come before. It is very different from an axisymmetric stealth nozzle found on the F-35, for example, Gostic says. He adds that not only is signature management a real challenge, the engine has to be completely integrated into the airframe. There has been a blurring of the lines between airframers and engineer manufactures in that area, Gostic add. The exhaust is, in many respects, part of the airframe....

...Another challenging area is to develop the full authority digital engine control, Croswell says. Modern engine control are a vital part of the aircraft, he says, pointing to the short take-off vertical landing fan and nozzles on the Lockheed Martin F-35B aircraft or the thrust vectoring nozzles on the F-22."

Best to read entire article at source. Many good bits left out of these ecerpts.

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More power and improved IR spectrum are both advantages in modern fighter jets. The AF ADVENT program is trying to provide both and of course the power is addressed as "fuel economy" which was not one familiar in the not too distant past. Trying to hide from the heat seekers is always a challenge and more cool air always seems to be a good thing. As modern as the F-135 is, will a weight increase (geared fan?) by this advancement be offset by less fuel or ordinance load? Nozzle/ power technology is very insteresting in LO and linked to that IR nemesis. FADECs are not HO-HUM yet, but mitigating the extra bells and whistles is still a challenge to the engine guys. No doubt a F-135 derivative to drive the SBUG replacement should be very exciting. Smile

P&W's entrant for Variable Cycle Engine competition.

The point is that the F-35s of the 2020s will compare to the F-35s rolling off the assembly line today much as Block-52 F-16s compared to F-16As.

These new engines will ultimately result in greater acceleration and supersonic cruise performance even while drastically increasing range and reducing IR signatures.

If these new engines hit the performance targets that have been set for them an F-35 could expect to achieve a combat radius of 750-800 miles on internal fuel.

This is good. At least P&W is joining the competition for Variable Cycle Engines so that we can keep the costs down by having more than one contractor working on this technology.

I really can't wait to see the F-35 utilize this tech. As mentioned earlier cruise performance and efficiency will increase considerably while also allowing for an increase in combat thrust performance at the same time.

And there is the new fuel to help range etc:
U.S. Warplanes...Using Advanced Fuels And Biofuels:
http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopic-t-19190.html

NEW URL for SAME article is:

http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2 ... -new-data/

Worth the BUMP with old NEws is GOod neWS related to recent developments...

Pratt & Whitney Pushes To Drive Down F135 Costs As Production Peaks July 10, 2012 by Charles Alcock

http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/ ... tion-peaks

"Production of Pratt & Whitney’s F135 engines that power Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter is set to peak this year at 50 units before flattening out in the coming years as the U.S. defers deliveries of the new aircraft. According to Pratt & Whitney Military Engines president Bennett Croswell, the engine maker won’t have to substantially reduce its production rates in response to the slowdown, it will defer plans it had hatched to ramp up output that would have compensated for reduced rates of production for the F117 and F100 turbofans.

U.S. budget cuts apart, some F35 partner nations have reduced their commitment to the program, such as Italy, which will now take 90 aircraft instead of the planned 135. But Croswell said this has been compensated for by sales to new foreign military sales clients such as Israel and Japan.

“It [F135 production] will come down further in the next couple of years so the way for us to maintain momentum is to bring down the cost for the engine,” Croswell told AIN. “We’re making great progress in what we call ‘the war on cost’ and we have dropped the cost [of each engine] by about 40 percent since 2009.”

Cost-containment efforts are largely focused on making sure that a higher percentage of engine assemblies and components are made correctly the first time to avoid reworking. “We are working with the supply base to get new ideas for leveraging increased volumes and improving quality to make sure that scrap rates are as low as possible.”

Looking beyond the F135, Pratt & Whitney’s engineers are already working on early U.S. Air Force and Navy propulsion wish lists for sixth-generation fighters....

spazsinbad wrote:

And there is the new fuel to help range etc:
U.S. Warplanes...Using Advanced Fuels And Biofuels:
http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopic-t-19190.html

NEW URL for SAME article is:

http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2 ... -new-data/

Another promising alternative fuel technology that uses sea water.. who's worried about oil running out?
http://www.defencetalk.com/fueling-the- ... eas-44805/

popcorn wrote:

spazsinbad wrote:

And there is the new fuel to help range etc:
U.S. Warplanes...Using Advanced Fuels And Biofuels:
http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopic-t-19190.html

NEW URL for SAME article is:

http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2 ... -new-data/

Another promising alternative fuel technology that uses sea water.. who's worried about oil running out?
http://www.defencetalk.com/fueling-the- ... eas-44805/

You still need power -- but just imagine an aircraft carrier that doesn't need to be supplied with jet fuel.

Last edited by spazsinbad on Sep 27, 2012 - 02:30 PM; edited 1 time in total

I'll imagine a CVN has the capacity to produce excess power available to produce jet fuel from seawater - if indeed it pans out.

Maybe in the not-so-distant future, a CBG will include a dedicated vessel supplying JP-5 to the CAW and even ships using gas turbines?

count_to_10 wrote:

popcorn wrote:

spazsinbad wrote:

And there is the new fuel to help range etc:
U.S. Warplanes...Using Advanced Fuels And Biofuels:
http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopic-t-19190.html

NEW URL for SAME article is:

http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2 ... -new-data/

Another promising alternative fuel technology that uses sea water.. who's worried about oil running out?
http://www.defencetalk.com/fueling-the- ... eas-44805/

You still need power -- but just imagine an aircraft carrier that doesn't need to be supplied with jet fuel.

I could see old SSBNs being converted over to stealthy traveling fuel factories (less of a target than an oiler) . Gut Sherwood Forest and replace with tanks and whatever equipment needed to do this and just cruise around with the task force making go-juice. Clear out the torpedo room up front for crew and supplies.

Yeah, I know it's a pipe dream, but still pretty neat.

Quote:

Yeah, I know it's a pipe dream, but still pretty neat.

It is very neat. The article owns to about 3 "if" breakthroughs that are required to reach to get near break even point (where your getting out more fuel than you put in).
If it really worked just set up Guam as the new Saudi Arabia!!!

Quote:

I could see old SSBNs being converted over to stealthy traveling fuel factories (less of a target than an oiler) . Gut Sherwood Forest and replace with tanks and whatever equipment needed to do this and just cruise around with the task force making go-juice. Clear out the torpedo room up front for crew and supplies.

Yeah, I know it's a pipe dream, but still pretty neat.

I'm not sure the SSBNs have enough volume to make them useful as tankers -- maybe 20,000total tons for Ohios and half that for older boats.

popcorn wrote:

Another promising alternative fuel technology that uses sea water.. who's worried about oil running out?
http://www.defencetalk.com/fueling-the- ... eas-44805/