Latest news with #XA103
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
20-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NGAD engines pass key design reviews, prototype work underway
The two proposed engines that might one day power a sixth-generation U.S. Air Force fighter have passed an important design review, defense firms announced this week. And with the detailed design reviews for GE Aerospace's XA102 and Pratt & Whitney's XA103 now complete, the companies are moving forward to build prototype demonstration engines to prove they will work. The XA102 and XA103 are GE's and Pratt's pitch for the Air Force's Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion program, which is intended to be the propulsion system for the crewed fighter portion of the Next Generation Air Dominance, or NGAD, family of systems. Both engines use adaptive technologies that would allow an NGAD aircraft to adjust to the ideal thrust configuration for its situation, providing greater range and thermal management capability than traditional engines. That technology was considered for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, but the Pentagon ultimately chose to upgrade the F-35′s current engines amid concerns about the adaptive engine's costs and limited ability to fit all versions of the F-35. In separate releases this week, each company touted the new digital techniques it used for designing and systems engineering of its engine. Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of RTX, said the 'collaborative digital environment' the company used to design its engine allowed the company to electronically send reviewers the data they needed to verify the XA103′s plans. 'The significance of this first fully digital review cannot be understated,' Jill Albertelli, president of military engines for Pratt & Whitney, said in a Thursday release. 'Digital processes throughout the lifecycle are crucial to rapidly and efficiently deliver advanced warfighter capabilities.' GE called the XA102′s use of model-based systems engineering 'a transformative shift in how advanced propulsion systems are designed and tested.' 'GE Aerospace is making great strides with model-based engineering, which has been instrumental in the success of the XA102 engine design,' Steve Russell, vice president and general manager of GE Aerospace's Edison Works, said in a Wednesday release. 'As we transition into the procurement and build phase, we will continue to incorporate this innovative approach while working closely with our supply chain partners to advance the engine toward a full-scale demonstration.' The Air Force in January announced both companies had been awarded modifications to their initial NGAP contracts that bring each contract's maximum prototype phase value to $3.5 billion apiece. That ceiling would be more than three times the maximum $975 million value of the original contracts, which were awarded in 2022. The companies are now procuring the hardware needed to build the prototypes. Pratt & Whitney said it expects to test its prototype by the end of the decade. However, it remains to be seen whether the futuristic NGAD fighter will even be built one day and in what form. The Air Force last summer put its NGAD program on hold amid higher-than-expected potential costs and started looking at ways to achieve air dominance at a lower price. After the 2024 U.S. presidential election, then-Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall decided to let the Trump administration make the final decision on NGAD, though the service's studies found NGAD was needed. Meanwhile, the Navy also announced Wednesday that it had awarded Pratt & Whitney a $186 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract to fund sustainment of the F-35′s F135 engines. The contract includes funds for material and support equipment for depot maintenance facilities, program administration for nonrecurring sustainment activities, supplies, services and planning to activate depots and unit-level support equipment to help sustain F135s. Pratt & Whitney was also awarded a three-year, $1.5 billion contract in December to sustain the F119 engines that power Air Force F-22 Raptors, which the company said will improve readiness and reduce costs for more than 400 engines.
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@
