F135 LATEST NEWS
Gates Is Right: An Extra Engine For F-35 Wastes Money
Loren Thompson
The Lexington Institute
September 1, 2010
In response to the steadfast opposition of two administrations to its unneeded engine, General Electric has issued a steady stream of misleading statements about the progress and performance of its product. It has exaggerated the positive comments that the Government Accountability Office made about the value of a second engine, while ignoring the skepticism expressed in five other government reports of equal stature. And it has sought to discredit independent analysts who sided with Secretary Gates, rather than responding to their criticisms. More…
Gates Hits Mark on Fiscal Restraint Editorial Board
San Antonio Express-News
August 18, 2010
Cabinet secretaries often become slaves to the bureaucracies they oversee. The bureaucrats declare they need more — more paper clips, more programs, more personnel and mainly more taxpayer money. And the secretaries become their advocates to the president, Congress and the people paying the taxes. More...
P&W Parries GE's F-35 Thrust Claims
John Reed
Defense News
August 27, 2010
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., - As Pratt & Whitney wraps up final ground tests on the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing version of its F135 engine for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, company executives continue to fire shots at the GE-Rolls Royce team fighting to keep its alternative JSF engine program alive.
In an Aug. 25 press conference held at Pratt's testing facility here, Warren Boley, Pratt's director of military engines, went after GE's claim that its F136 engine will provide more than five percent more thrust than Pratt's engine. Boley said the F136's afterburner nozzles and lift fan assembly are not designed to accommodate more than the 43,000 pounds of thrust that the engines are required to produce. More…
Pratt Raises Stakes In JSF Engine Battle
Guy Norris
Aviation Week
August 27, 2010
The disclosure raises the demonstrated sea-level thrust for the F135 above 50,000 lb., and follows results from the General Electric/Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team earlier this month that indicate the F136 alternate engine has in excess of 15% margin against the same specification.
Pratt & Whitney Military Engines President Warren Boley says the F135 result proves “we have demonstrated margin” and that “we have the right core size.” Thrust growth is not a specific requirement for the Lockheed Martin F-35; however, the provision of additional margin — either for trading for longer operating life or for future growth — is considered an important bargaining chip by the contenders. More…
JSF STOVL Engine Testing -- Seen Up Close
Guy Norris
Aviation Week
August 27, 2010
At around six minutes the engine, FX648, was in 'up and away' mode and ready for the first of six phases of running in full afterburner. When this kicked in the ground shook and my chest was pounded as the engine pushed out around 43,000-lb thrust. Behind the stand, hundreds of feet from the exhaust, the open water of the swampy section of Everglade rose up in fury. Although the exhaust plume was only visible as heat distortion and a trace of particulates, photos of the same test at night showed a spectacular series of shock diamonds cascading into the darkness. More…
Defense Cuts Don't Mean a Weak Military
Cal Thomas and Bob Beckel
USA Today
August 27, 2010
Cal Thomas: Let's talk specifics. For those who aren't familiar with the alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter, it's the military's version of a Bridge To Nowhere. Members of the House and Senate have earmarked more than $1.2 billion for this since 2004, according to the watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste. The Pentagon has said repeatedly it doesn't want or need the engine, and both the Bush and Obama administrations have tried to eliminate it. You can't get more bipartisan than that. But a stubborn Congress controls the purse strings and won't relent. More…
Defense Procurement Politics: F-35 Backup Boondoggle
Sarwar Kashmeri
The New Atlanticist
August 9, 2010
The F-35's engine was already selected in a competitive acquisition strategy, and a spare engine that was never in the original plan will need a further investment of billions of dollars before it becomes a viable insurance policy - if it ever does. As for reliability, the F-35's engine is built on the foundation of the engine that powers today's F22 fighters, that have been in service for almost 20 years, an engine that has flown hundreds of thousands of hours, and is known for its rock-solid reliability. More…
No,
Again, to F-35 Alt-Engine: Schwartz
John Reed
Defense News
August 4, 2010
The U.S. Air Force's top general reaffirmed his opposition the GE-Rolls Royce's alternative engine for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter this week, saying that spending billions on the backup engine does not make sense in today's fiscal environment. More...
Competition for Extra Engine Has Run Its Course
General William Begert
Palm Beach Post
August 3, 2010
Col. Singer is correct that competition, not monopoly, is the basis for our system. But the game shouldn't go on indefinitely when scarce taxpayer dollars are at risk. As Mr. Gates put it recently, "only in Washington does a proposal where everybody wins get considered a competition." The Department of Defense has made its decision, and F136 supporters are trying to achieve through legislation what they could not achieve through competition. It's time to eliminate the extra engine. More…
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