Lockheed Martin JSF Propulsion Team Completes Conventional Engine Developmental Testing
FORT WORTH, Texas--- The Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) team completed conventional engine developmental testing of the Pratt & Whitney (P&W) JSF119-611 engine at the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) C-2 and J-2 test cells at Tullahoma, Tenn. A JSF119-611 developmental engine, designated FX661, completed more than 330 hours of altitude testing in the two cells. The tests validated the complete X-35 demonstrator flight envelope, with excellent operability demonstrated throughout. The engine control logic for up-and-away flight for all three JSF aircraft variants-conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL), Navy carrier capable (CV) and short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL)-was developed and successfully tested. Successful augmentor operation was verified for both the CTOL and STOVL (three bearing-swivel) augmentor ducts. These tests also confirmed an acceptable airstart envelope for a demonstrator aircraft. All design aspects of a conventional fighter engine were evaluated during the test period initiated in early March and concluded in mid-July. The evaluations included structural evaluation, component evaluation, performance development, operability and stability development, controls development, and augmentor/nozzle development. In all cases, engine performance met or exceeded predictions. Another demonstrator engine, FX663, is currently being assembled at the P&W facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., and will be shipped to AEDC for final altitude flight qualification testing this fall. In addition, at sea-level test conditions at P&W's Florida engine test facility, carrier-suitable throttle transient operation was substantiated for powered approach and bolter-landing conditions. "This is an extremely significant achievement of a critical milestone in the evolution of our JSF Concept Demonstrator Aircraft,'' said Frank J. Cappuccio, vice president and program manager for the Lockheed Martin JSF team. "Pratt & Whitney is to be complimented for evolving such a splendid fighter engine in just two-and-a-half years. This is yet another milestone in Lockheed Martin's strategy of entering the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase at the lowest risk possible with tangible engineering data. We now look forward to completing the altitude qualification later this year and the first flight of our demonstrator aircraft next spring.'' At the same time conventional engine testing of the JSF119-611 was concluded at AEDC, shakedown testing of the Lockheed Martin shaft-driven lift fan STOVL propulsion system was being initiated on the C-12 test stand at P&W's Florida engine test facility. Testing of the STOVL propulsion system on the C-12 test stand will continue for the remainder of this year. Lockheed Martin received one of two Joint Strike Fighter concept demonstration contracts the Department of Defense awarded on Nov. 16, 1996. Flight evaluation of the demonstrator aircraft is scheduled to take place in 2000. Government selection of a contractor for the Joint Strike Fighter EMD phase is scheduled for 2001
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Lockheed Martin JSF Propulsion Team Completes Conventional Engine Developmental Testing
