If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
PRATT & WHITNEY PROPOSES F-22A ENGINE VARIANT FOR LONG-RANGE STRIKE
News from Inside the Air Force
Raptor-JSF hybrid possible PRATT & WHITNEY PROPOSES F-22A ENGINE VARIANT FOR LONG-RANGE STRIKE Date: May 25, 2007 WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- Connecticut-based engine maker Pratt & Whitney plans to pitch a derivative of its F-22A Raptor engine as the future power plant for the Air Force's nascent long-range bomber effort, the company's president for military engines said here. "That would be it," Thomas Farmer, president of military engines said of the company's intention to offer a modified F119 engine for the long-range bomber program. "It is a well-developed engine, the [service] knows the engine, they know its history and its capability and with the evolution of [long-range] strike, that would be Pratt & Whitney's primary offering." While the Air Force has yet to issue an official information request to industry on the bomber program, Farmer noted that the engine maker had already achieved tremendous success with another F119 engine variant -- the F135 -- designed for the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft. With a design based largely upon the Raptor's power plant, Farmer said the progress made in the development of the F135 proves the reliability and versatility of the engine model. Currently, Pratt & Whitney system engineers are in the process of testing and evaluating advanced versions of the F135 at their engine testing facility here. When asked if the company's long-range strike offering would be drafted more along the lines of the original F119 or the JSF- designed F135, Farmer said the long-range strike engine variant would be a hybrid of the two. "The F119 is the engine with the greatest experience and history [and] the F135 is [still] in an evolved condition, [but] we will take the best of both worlds," he said. Noting that members of the Air Staff -- most notably Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley -- have expressed a keen interest in "going off-the-shelf" for technologies associated with the 2018 version of the futuristic bomber, Farmer said the Raptor's F119 engine is an "off-the-shelf, good-to-go [engine] model that is in line with the thinking of the Air Force leadership and the acquisition community." Mandated by the 2005 Quadrennial Defense Review, Air Force officials have begun initial development work on preliminary concepts of its new long-range bomber. The service's three-pronged long-range strike strategy begins with a fleet- wide modernization of the service's bomber platforms, notably the B-2, B-1 and B-52. The second phase, outlined by senior service officials, anticipates fielding a midterm bomber platform within the 2018 time frame, with the service's final long-range strike aircraft slated to hit the ramp by 2035. Blue-suited officials have been mum over what capabilities the service expects in the 2018 and 2035 bomber since the Air Force was still mulling over the effort's analysis of alternatives. Air Combat Command chief Gen. Ronald Keys stated that the program's development would be more than likely carried out under the auspices of a "black" or classified program. Defense observers had opined that the possible capabilities for the 2018 aircraft include flying at subsonic or supersonic speeds and possess unmanned operating capabilities. However Air Force officials, citing the recently completed AOA, have stated in recent weeks that the 2018 long-range strike aircraft would be a manned subsonic platform. Such revelations prompted Pratt & Whitney's offering for the burgeoning weapons system. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Was the Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp the best engine of WW II? | Dave Kearton | Aviation Photos | 18 | January 12th 07 07:20 PM |
Question Pratt & Whitney Tool ... | joseph | Restoration | 0 | October 1st 05 02:57 PM |
Long range Wx | Paul kgyy | Instrument Flight Rules | 4 | December 31st 04 04:25 PM |
Long range Wx | Paul kgyy | Piloting | 4 | December 31st 04 04:25 PM |
World War Two Era U.S. Radial Engines (Curtiss and Pratt&Whitney) | Lincoln Brown | Military Aviation | 10 | February 13th 04 04:30 AM |