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| Wednesday, June 13, 2007 |
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Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce F135 STOVL Team Completes Propulsion System Test
By FlyingNews @ 7:59 AM :: 379 Views ::
0 Comments :: Aircraft Engines
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EAST HARTFORD, Conn., June 12, 2007 – Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce completed the first propulsion system qualification test for the short-takeoff/vertical-landing (STOVL) F135 engine. This is the first time the full-scale STOVL F135 engine airflow was tested with the F-35 LiftFan hardware in place. Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX) company.
“The success of this initial test confirms that Pratt & Whitney’s F135 STOVL engine will meet or exceed the thrust requirements for the F-35 program,” said Bill Gostic, vice president, Pratt & Whitney F135 program. “This is a significant step toward first flight of the F-35 STOVL aircraft, which is currently scheduled for May 2008.”
The engine test was completed in partnership with Lockheed Martin and Rolls-Royce at Pratt & Whitney’s facility in West Palm Beach, Fla. The test included extensive thrust analyses of the F135 propulsion system with an F-35 LiftFan inlet and door installed in front of the engine. The Rolls-Royce LiftFan® is the component that allows the F-35 STOVL aircraft to achieve vertical lift.
Pratt & Whitney is the lead propulsion system supplier for the F-35 program and to date, the F135 engine has logged more than 7,700 system design and development ground test hours and continues to power the F-35 Lightning II flight test program. The F135 engine is an evolution of the F119 engine for the F-22 Raptor; together the F135 and F119 will have logged more than 600,000 hours before the F-35’s introduction into operational service in 2012. Rated at more than 40,000 pounds of thrust, the F135 is the most powerful fighter engine ever built. |
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