Browse > Home / Defense / U.S. House Affirms Competition for Joint Strike Fighter Propulsion

U.S. House Affirms Competition for Joint Strike Fighter Propulsion

Written by thomas · Filed Under Defense 

July 31, 2009

thomas

EVENDALE, OHIO – July 30, 2009 – The U.S. House of Representatives is
leading the charge for defense acquisition reform by voting 400 to 30
on Thursday for a defense spending bill for fiscal year 2010 that
includes $560 million in funding for the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Team’s
F136 engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

By supporting the F136 – the competing JSF engine that is already more
than 70 percent through its development – the House sets the stage for
annual, head-to-head competition to the F-35 propulsion system, and
avoids a decades-long, $100 billion engine monopoly being handed to a
sole-source provider.  In the history of the JSF program, there has
never been an engine competition.

The GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team consistently receives top
reviews from the Joint Program Office for program execution, including
budget performance.  The first production F136 engines are scheduled
for delivery in 2012.  Over time, the F136 engine program will more
than pay for itself through decades of annual competitions that drive
performance and cost improvements by design.

This year, the F136 engine has garnered support in both steps of the
U.S. House budget process; defense authorization and defense
appropriations.

“For 14 years, the F136 has received consistent, bipartisan support in
Congress because competition is the critical cost-control mechanism
for defense procurement,” said David Joyce, President and CEO of GE
Aviation.  “The GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team simply seeks the
opportunity to compete.”

More than $2.5 billion has been invested in developing the GE
Rolls-Royce F136 engine, including more than $50 million from GE and
Rolls-Royce.  The benefits of competition have been verified by
numerous studies and U.S. military experience. The JSF program’s
international partners in the F-35 program also support competing
engines.

Speaking to Congressional Quarterly, House Defense Appropriations
Chairman John P. Murtha this week described the F136 engine program as
“absolutely critical,” adding, “An alternative engine will provide
cost savings through competition as well as provide greater
reliability down the road.”

History has shown that competition in aircraft engine programs
significantly reduces cost, while improving safety, reliability, and
contractor responsiveness. The “Great Engine War,” the 20-year battle
to power the F-16 fighter, demonstrated these exact results with cost
savings of at least 20 percent.

The F136 engine is the most advanced fighter aircraft engine ever
developed and will be available to power all variants of the F-35
Lightning II aircraft for the U.S. military and eight partner nations.

The first complete new-build F136 engine began testing earlier this
year under the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) contract
with the U.S. Government Joint Program Office for the F-35 Joint
Strike Fighter program.  The F136 engine is a product of the best
technology from two world-leading propulsion companies. The GE
Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team has designed the only engine
specifically developed for the F-35 aircraft, offering extra
temperature margin and affordable growth.

F136 engine development is being led at GE Aviation in Evendale, Ohio
(Cincinnati suburb), Ohio; and at Rolls-Royce in Indianapolis,
Indiana.

The F-35 is a 5th-generation, multi-role aircraft designed to replace
the AV-8B Harrier, A-10, F-16, F/A-18 Hornet and the United Kingdom’s
Harrier GR.7 and Sea Harrier, all of which are currently powered by GE
or Rolls-Royce.  Potential F-35 production for the U.S. Air Force,
Navy, Marines and international customers may reach as many as 5000 to
6000 aircraft over the next 30 years.

» Próximo Post - Piper Seeks Engineers for PiperJet Project
« Post Aneterior - Sikorsky X2 Technology™ Program Relocates to Florida to Prepare for High-Speed Test Flights

Comments

¿Tiene algo que decir?

You must be logged in to post a comment.