F135 STOVL Team Completes Propulsion System Test

Pratt & Whitney, EAST HARTFORD: Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce completed the first propulsion system qualification test for the short-takeoff/vertical-landing (STOVL) F135 engine. This is the first time the full-scale STOVL F135 engine airflow was tested with the F-35 LiftFan hardware in place. Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies Corp. company. 
 
“The success of this initial test confirms that Pratt & Whitney's F135 STOVL engine will meet or exceed the thrust requirements for the F-35 program,” said Bill Gostic, vice president, Pratt & Whitney F135 program. “This is a significant step toward first flight of the F-35 STOVL aircraft, which is currently scheduled for May 2008.” 
 
The engine test was completed in partnership with Lockheed Martin and Rolls-Royce at Pratt & Whitney's facility in West Palm Beach, Florida. The test included extensive thrust analyses of the F135 propulsion system with an F-35 LiftFan inlet and door installed in front of the engine. The Rolls-Royce LiftFan is the component that allows the F-35 STOVL aircraft to achieve vertical lift. 
 
Pratt & Whitney is the lead propulsion system supplier for the F-35 program and to date, the F135 engine has logged more than 7,700 system design and development ground test hours and continues to power the F-35 Lightning II flight test program. The F135 engine is an evolution of the F119 engine for the F-22 Raptor; together the F135 and F119 will have logged more than 600,000 hours before the F-35's introduction into operational service in 2012. Rated at more than 40,000 pounds of thrust, the F135 is the most powerful fighter engine ever built.  
 
Rolls-Royce, a world-leading provider of power systems and services for use on land, at sea and in the air, operates in four global markets – civil aerospace, defense aerospace, marine and energy. 
 
Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high-technology products and services to the global aerospace and building industries.