Latest news with #NGAP
IOL News
01-08-2025
- Business
- IOL News
2025 NGAP Summit in Durban: Addressing workforce challenges in aviation
Global aviation leaders will convene in Durban for the 2025 Next Generation of Aviation Professionals Global Summit, aiming to address the urgent need for skilled talent in the aviation sector and foster sustainable career pathways for youth worldwide. Image: File: John McArthur / unsplash The 3rd annual Next Generation of Aviation Professionals (NGAP) Global Summit 2025 theme, 'The Flight Plan for Future Aviation Talent: Innovate, Educate, Inspire – Building the Workforce for the Skies Ahead', will be held at the Durban ICC from August 12 to 14. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), together with a United Nations specialised agency and the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA), will bring global aviation leaders to Durban to help address aviation's urgent need for millions of new skilled professionals to work in the aviation sector. Organisers announced in a joint statement on Thursday that the summit will serve as a global platform for governments, industry, educators, training institutions, and youth representatives to coordinate action on one of the most pressing challenges facing international aviation: developing a qualified, inclusive, and future-ready workforce to sustain the sector's long-term growth and resilience. 'ICAO forecasts suggest that by 2037, over 665,000 aircraft maintenance technicians, 554,000 pilots, 922,000 cabin crew members, and 106,000 air traffic controllers will be needed.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading The organisers said these figures reflect only a portion of the broader and growing human resource demands across the many professions essential to air transport. 'South Africa is playing an integral role on the African continent through the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), an African Union initiative aimed at creating a unified air transport market across the continent, which is forecast to generate nearly 600,000 jobs in Africa alone.' Transport Minister Barbara Creecy stated that South Africa, alongside its African partners, is dedicated to addressing Africa's unique concerns, which range from safety and security to infrastructure and environmental sustainability. The ICAO 2025 NGAP Summit is vital for global aviation dialogue, enabling advocacy for policies addressing shared challenges. The summit will highlight innovative approaches to aviation training, technology-enabled learning, and the creation of sustainable career pathways, particularly in support of youth in less developed and emerging aviation markets. 'I am certain that there will be a lot of insights and recommendations that the sector will take forward from the various 2025 NGAP Summit deliberations,' said SACAA Director of Civil Aviation, Poppy Khoza. The event supports the implementation of ICAO's NGAP Strategy, which outlines an integrated and collaborative approach to addressing aviation's workforce needs across four focus areas including advocacy and knowledge-sharing, workforce monitoring and forecasting, education and training, and capacity building and outreach. 'Every State has an interest in securing the talent required for a safe and resilient future for international civil aviation. This is particularly vital for youth and communities in parts of the world where aviation can be a powerful catalyst for sustainable development,' Salvatore Sciacchitano, president of the ICAO Council.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Trump Wants A Twin-Engine 'F-55' Version Of The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
In a surprise development, President Donald Trump has said that he wants the United States to develop a twin-engine version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which he has named the F-55. Exactly how far such a concept has progressed, at this stage, is very much open to question, but it does raise some interesting questions about the futures of both the F-35 and the F-47, the Air Force's next-generation crewed stealth fighter. Trump was speaking in Qatar today, where he also visited U.S. forces stationed at Al Udeid Air Base. The U.S. president's Qatar visit also coincided with Boeing securing its biggest-ever deal for widebody airliners, Qatar Airways ordering 160 777X and 787 jets worth $96 billion. On the F-35, Trump said, 'We're doing an upgrade, a simple upgrade, but we're also doing an F-55. I'm going to call it an F-55, and that's going to be a substantial upgrade, but it's going to be also with two engines because the F-35 has a single engine. I don't like single engines.' Trump: F-35, we're doing an upgrade, a simple upgrade, but we're also doing an F-55. I'm going to call it an F-55, and that's going to be a substantial upgrade, but it's going to be also with two engines because the F 35 has a single engine. I don't like single engines. — Acyn (@Acyn) May 15, 2025 In response to our questions about the F-55, a Lockheed Martin spokesperson said: 'We thank President Trump for his support of the F-35 and F-22 and will continue to work closely with the administration to realize its vision for air dominance.' While we will return to the 'simple upgrade' later, the big development here is the idea of a twin-engine F-35, something that has not been previously touted on a serious level since the Joint Strike Fighter program was launched. While Trump pointed to the safety advantage of having two engines rather than one, this is just one aspect of such a configuration. Having more thrust would also increase performance, including potentially the aircraft's speed and altitude, as well as boosting the aircraft's payload. Range could be enhanced or reduced, depending on the design tweaks that would go along with such a configuration change. Engine options for such an aircraft might well include those being developed under the Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) program, which has been focused primarily on developing new engines as part of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative, which led to the new F-47 next-generation stealth fighter. There has long been speculation that NGAP might also feed into other advanced aviation programs. In January of this year, the Air Force increased the value of NGAP contracts with General Electric and Pratt & Whitney, giving them both a ceiling of $3.5 billion. Previously, the Pentagon looked at the option of re-engining the F-35 as part of the Air Force's Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP). In 2023, the Air Force announced its intention to cancel AETP in favor of upgrading the existing Pratt & Whitney F135 engine currently used on all variants of the F-35. Nevertheless, Congress subsequently authorized additional funding for AETP. Work on AETP has also been leveraged in the NGAP designs from General Electric and Pratt & Whitney, known as the XA102 and XA103, respectively. It's also possible that such a change could incorporate existing engine core designs. At the same time, a twin-engine F-35 would be heavier and more expensive, and it would bring with it an increased burden in terms of support and maintenance. Regardless, it will require an extensive redesign of the F-35 airframe and numerous subsystems to accomplish. In the case of the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B, there would appear to be no realistic option of creating an equivalent twin-engine version of the F-55. On the other hand, there are some compelling arguments for a twin-engine aircraft in the class of the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) F-35A and the carrier-capable F-35C. The Navy, in particular, would value the benefits that a twin-engine F-35 would bring, with these advantages becoming even more pronounced when operating from a carrier deck. Here, safety margins are even more critical, and the ability to carry a heavier payload is especially prized. Still, there have been no known major complaints about the F-35C's single engine and no aircraft have been lost from carriers due to engine failures. It's notable that China's J-35, which is a broad equivalent to the F-35, and which is frequently described as a 'clone' of the U.S.-designed jet, has featured twin engines from the outset. It, too, is intended for carrier operations. Returning to the U.S. Navy, there is a possibility that Trump's words today might reflect developments in the service's F/A-XX sixth-generation stealth fighter program. Earlier this week, TWZ reported on how this program is still being reviewed by the Pentagon, the White House, and Congress. This came after a published report that a contract award for F/A-XX, potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars, could be delayed by as much as three years. There is also the possibility that this could lead to cancellation or further postponement. Originally, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman were all in the running to develop the F/A-XX. However, Lockheed Martin was reportedly eliminated from the competition in March of this year because its proposal 'did not satisfy the service's criteria,' according to Breaking Defense, whose story cited an unnamed source with knowledge of the program. Could it be that Trump's F-55 comments refer to a Lockheed Martin F/A-XX contender, either one that was eliminated previously, but which may now be back in the running, or potentially a new proposal from the same company, based on a reworked, twin-engine F-35C? At the same time, a twin-engine, land-based F-55 could be of interest to the Air Force, which has, in the past, looked at fielding some kind of cheaper crewed fighter that could operate alongside the F-47. You can read our previous analysis of what a cheaper NGAD crewed stealth fighter might look like here. Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force is clearly struggling to afford the programs it already has on its books, with even the F-47 increasingly being seen, at least in some quarters, as a sacrifice against other urgent needs. Even with a larger budget, it would be a challenge for the service to procure the F-55 as well. This, again, might suggest that a twin-engine F-35 development would actually be a better fit for the Navy. Export customers, however, might look very favorably at the advantages that a land-based F-55 would offer. Indeed, Trump raising the prospect of such a fighter while on a visit to the Gulf region may have been calculated to alert local interest. In the past, both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been linked with possible F-35 deals, and Washington may be looking at pitching the F-55 as a program in which one or both of those countries could invest. Notably, Qatar and Saudi Arabia played significant roles in developing versions of the Advanced Eagle, which the U.S. Air Force is now benefiting from those investments with its F-15EX. Back in April of this year, after Lockheed president and CEO Jim Taiclet described a potential upgrade for the F-35 that he claimed could deliver 80 percent of the F-47's capability at half its cost, using technologies developed for the F-22 and the F-47. He termed it a 'Ferrari' version of the F-35, and it may well this that Trump referred to as 'a super upgrade on the F-35.' You can read all about Lockheed's pitch on this massively up-tuned F-35 concept in our previous report here. As to Trump's remarks about a more modestly upgraded F-35, this could refer to one of several efforts that we already know about. As well as the latest Block 4 version of the Joint Strike Fighter, which brings a raft of new capabilities, there has been talk about a further refined jet, which has been unofficially dubbed F-35X. Trump's address also made reference to another 'super upgrade' for the F-22 stealth fighter. 'I think the most beautiful fighter jet in the world is the F-22, but we're going to do an F-22 Super, and it'll be a very modern version of the F-22 fighter jet,' Trump said. This would seem to describe ongoing Air Force efforts to update at least a portion of the existing F-22 fleet until that aircraft is finally retired, potentially in the 2040s. A number of new capabilities are now in the pipeline for the F-22, including a new Infrared Defensive System (IRDS), as well as other additional sensors and stealthy range-extending drop tanks. On the F-22, Trump declared that it was 'the most beautiful fighter jet in the world,' before bafflingly stating that he was 'not a huge believer in stealth because stealth is basically a lot of the design and the shape… So you're going to design an ugly plane for stealth reasons.' He then accused China of copying the F-22, before noting that 'they won't be able to copy our engines so quick.' There is also the very real possibility, and even some would argue a probability, that, with the F-55, Trump was describing an altogether non-existent program. There is a precedent for this, with his 2018 announcement about deliveries of 'F-52 and F-35' fighters to Norway. While Norway does operate the F-35, the F-52 was likely an error based on the fact that Norway ordered 52 of the Joint Strike Fighters. This is just one of many examples of Trump apparently going off script, especially when it comes to combat aircraft, including his description of 'invisible' stealth fighters. Whether the F-55 is another case of Trump misspeaking or sharing his own ideas on the fly, or whether the White House is serious about a twin-engine F-35 development remains to be seen. TWZ has reached out to the Air Force and the Navy, with the hope of bringing some more clarity to these announcements. Contact the author: thomas@
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
US Air Force's 6th-gen fighter NGAD hits milestone with engine design success
The U.S. Air Force's sixth-generation fighter is one step closer to reality, as two proposed engines intended to power the aircraft have successfully passed a significant design review. This milestone was recently announced by the defense firms involved in the development process. General Electric Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney have completed detailed design reviews for their respective engines, referred to as XA102 and XA103. This success allows the companies to move on to the next stage: developing prototype demonstration engines. These engines are significant components of the Air Force's Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) program, which aims to provide the propulsion system for crewed fighters within the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative. The engines feature adaptive technologies that enable aircraft to adjust their thrust configurations based on specific flight situations, offering range, and thermal management advantages compared to conventional engines. Although adaptive technology was considered for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Pentagon ultimately opted to enhance the existing F-35 engines due to concerns over costs and compatibility across various F-35 models. Both companies released statements emphasizing the innovative digital design techniques they employed during their review processes. Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of RTX, highlighted how its 'collaborative digital environment' streamlined the engine design process. This approach facilitated the electronic transmission of necessary data to reviewers, allowing for more efficient verification of the plans for the XA103 engine. Jill Albertelli, the president of military engines for Pratt & Whitney, noted the importance of this first fully digital review in delivering advanced capabilities to warfighters. Meanwhile, GE Aerospace praised the application of model-based systems engineering in designing the XA102 engine, calling it a transformative shift in the approach to advanced propulsion system testing and development. Steve Russell, who leads GE Aerospace's Edison Works division, expressed optimism about incorporating this innovative engineering approach as they move forward into the next phases of procurement and production. In January, the Air Force announced contract modifications for both firms, increasing the ceiling for the prototype phase of the NGAP contracts to $3.5 billion each. This new figure represents more than triple the original contract value of $975 million awarded to both firms in 2022. With the design reviews now completed, the companies are beginning to acquire the hardware required for constructing their engines, with Pratt & Whitney anticipating that testing of its prototype will occur by the end of the decade. However, questions remain about the future of the NGAD fighter program itself, especially after the Air Force placed the initiative on hold last summer due to escalating cost estimates. This move initiated a review of alternative strategies to ensure air dominance at a reduced expense. After the upcoming 2024 presidential election, then-Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall decided to defer the decision regarding NGAD to the incoming administration. However, studies conducted by the Air Force have indicated a clear need for such a program. Additionally, the U.S. Navy recently awarded Pratt & Whitney a contract worth $186 million to support the sustainment of the F-35's F135 engines. This contract includes funding for materials and support for maintenance facilities. Furthermore, Pratt & Whitney secured a substantial three-year, $1.5 billion contract in December to maintain the XA103 engines used in Air Force F-22 Raptors to enhance operational readiness and reduce costs associated with over 400 engines. As defense firms continue to develop their engines and the Air Force reassesses its acquisition strategies, the path to realizing the NGAD fighter remains uncertain but is closely monitored by industry and military leaders.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Air Force triples funding for prototype sixth-gen fighter engine
The Air Force on Monday greatly expanded funding for the prototype engine for the service's planned sixth-generation fighter. General Electric of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Pratt & Whitney Engines of East Hartford, Connecticut, each received modifications to their initial Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion, or NGAP, contracts that bring the maximum amount for the prototype phase up to $3.5 billion apiece. That is more than three times higher than the $975 million ceiling on the original contracts awarded in 2022. NGAP is expected to be the propulsion system for the planned Next Generation Air Dominance fighter. GE and Pratt are designing so-called 'adaptive' engines, which shift to the most efficient thrust configuration for whatever situation a jet is in, to power NGAD. The Pentagon seriously considered upgrading the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter with adaptive engines. But their cost and limited ability to fit all models of the F-35 led the Pentagon to instead upgrade the F-35′s current engines. The progress made on adaptive engines is now feeding into the NGAP program. And even as the Air Force reconsiders its approach to NGAD and air dominance, the contract modification signals the service wants to keep work moving on the new engines. The Pentagon said this contract award will help deliver 'a state-of-the-art propulsion system with a flexible architecture that can be tailored for future combat aircraft operating across various mission threads, and digitally transforming the propulsion industrial base.' The Pentagon expects the work to be done by July 2032. Chris Calio, president and chief executive of Pratt's parent company, RTX, said the additional funding will help the company continue driving down the risks on its adaptive engine, dubbed 'XA103.' 'We've gone through rigorous testing over the last few years,' Calio said in an earnings call with investors Tuesday. 'We've been really pleased with the results there.' Pratt & Whitney said in February 2024 that the XA103 had finished a key design review with the Air Force and was on its way to ground testing in the late 2020s. GE said in May 2024 that its NGAP engine, the XA102, finished a major design review in December 2023 and was moving towards a prototype engine test. The Air Force has pushed for years to develop NGAD – envisioned as a 'family of systems' including a sixth-generation crewed fighter, as well as drone wingmen known as collaborative combat aircraft and other advanced systems and weapons – to modernize its fleet and replace the F-22. The program is suffering from major sticker shock, however, with initial cost estimates coming in at three times as much as an F-35, or between $250 million and $300 million. The Air Force balked and put NGAD on hold in summer 2024 as it reconsidered what the best and most cost-effective way to maintain air dominance might be. After Trump was reelected, the Air Force's previous leadership decided it would be more appropriate to let the new administration decide its path forward.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Billions For Next Generation Fighter Jet Engines Greenlit By Air Force
The U.S. Air Force has dramatically plussed-up contracts with General Electric and Pratt & Whitney, both of which now have a ceiling of $3.5 billion, to continue work on prototype next-generation jet engines. To date, the Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) program has been focused primarily on developing new engines to power a new sixth-generation crewed stealth 'fighter' in the works as part of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative. The NGAD combat jet's future is now an open question, but NGAP might also feed into other advanced aviation programs. The Pentagon announced the modifications to the existing NGAP deals in its daily contracting notice today. Both are described as funding additional 'technology maturation and risk reduction services' in support of work on prototype engines. The specific entry for the modification to the NGAP contract with Pratt & Whitney (a subsidiary of Raytheon) provides the following additional context: 'The work includes design, analysis, rig testing, prototype engine build and testing, and weapon system integration. The contract modification is for the execution of the prototype phase of the Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion program and is focused on delivering a state-of-the-art propulsion system with a flexible architecture that can be tailored for future combat aircraft operating across various mission threads; and digitally transforming the propulsion industrial base.' The U.S. Air Force first awarded the NGAP contracts to General Electric and Pratt & Whitney in 2022. At that time, additional NGAP contracts also went to Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the three prime contractors vying at that point to develop the NGAD combat jet, to help ensure the next-generation engines would be compatible with their respective designs. Each of those deals had an initial ceiling of close to $1 billion. Details about the NGAP designs from General Electric and Pratt & Whitney, known as the XA102 and XA103, respectively, remain limited. The XA102 passed a major design review in 2023 and the XA103 did the same last year. They both leverage work on earlier engines that the two companies developed as potential options for re-engining F-35 Joint Strike Fighters as part of the Air Force's Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP). In 2023, the Air Force announced its intention to cancel AETP in favor of upgrading the existing Pratt & Whitney F135 engine currently used on all variants of the F-35. Congress subsequently authorized additional funding for AETP. Like the XA100 and XA101, the XA102 and XA103 are known to be so-called adaptive cycle designs. What this means in broad strokes is that their bypass ratios can be adjusted on demand while in flight between modes that are more fuel-efficient or provide more power, depending on what the situation requires. For instance, a tactical jet with such an engine could fly in an 'efficiency' mode to an operating area, helping to conserve fuel for when it gets on station, which might include time in a higher-power combat-focused mode. The capabilities adaptive cycle engines offer could be particularly important in a future large-scale conflict, especially one against China across the board expanses of the Pacific, where aerial refueling assets are expected to be increasingly at risk and available bases could be few and far between. General Electric has previously said that its earlier XA100 design is some 25 percent more efficient than the F135 and can also offer between 10 and 20 percent more thrust than the Pratt & Whitney engine in certain flight profiles. You can read more about the XA100 and adaptive cycle technologies here. Despite the new funding, what any future NGAP engine might power is less clear than it was back in 2022. The Air Force launched a deep review of its NGAD combat jet plans last year and it remains unclear how the service under the new Trump administration will proceed. A number of alternatives to the original concept, envisioned as a relatively large and expensive successor to the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter but with an overall different mission set, have been proposed, including a truncated lower-cost design viewed more as a follow-on to the F-35 with a focus on acting as an aerial drone controller. NGAP engines, or derivatives thereof, could still power the NGAD combat jet regardless of its final form. Members of a next-generation family of jet engines, or technologies therefrom, could find their way into other advanced Air Force crewed and uncrewed aircraft, as well. The service is actively working to acquire new Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones and is also eyeing stealthy aerial refueling tankers, though the future of those efforts has also been called into question primarily due to concerns about affordability. The Air Force's budget outlook is complicated by a number of very high-priority, but also very expensive programs, including the B-21 Raider stealth bomber and LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile. The ballooning cost of Sentinel was a key factor in the decision to initiate the NGAD combat jet review. Other branches of the U.S. military could be interested in the NGAP engines or related designs. While the future of the NGAD combat jet is murky, the U.S. Navy has insisted that it will push ahead with its own plans for a sixth-generation carrier-capable stealth 'fighter' commonly referred to now as F/A-XX. At the same time, in an interview with Aviation Week last year, the Navy did say it was looking to chart a course for F/A-XX independent of Air Force efforts, including NGAP. At the same time, any engines that might come out of NGAP still look to be a ways off. The contract modifications announced today for the ongoing prototyping effort now cover work through 2032. Whatever ultimately comes of NGAP, the expanded deals with General Electric and Pratt & Whitney show the Air Force is still very committed now to seeing the development of the XA102 and XA103 through to at least the prototype stage. Contact the author: joe@
