Air International 2015-06
-
C.Kjelgaard - Towards Tomorrow's United States Fighter Engine /Technology/
A Boeing artist's concept of F/A-XX.
P&W's AETD design would be aimed at an adaptive-cycle engine for the US Navy’s sixth-generation F/A-XX.
The F135 Block 1 upgrades rely partly on development work carried out by P&W in autumn 2013 for US Navy’s XTE68-LF1 project to demonstrate higher operating temperatures in the F135’s turbine.
Some of the advanced technologies P&W has developed for the compressor and turbine in its high-pressure AETD core could potentially be introduced the F135 for production from the early 2020s.
Block 1 F135 improvements could be available for new-production examples and for retrofit into existing ones from as early as 2018.
P&W is working with the US Navy on the Fuel Burn Reduction programme, which has married the HPT technologies from the XTE68-LF1 with a series of improvements to the F135’s six-stage, all-blisk compressor.
Based on the AFRL's requirements P&W's AETD design should provide 10% higher maximum thrust than the F135 but be 25% more fuel efficient.