Posted on 08/22/2022 6:32:42 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The U.S. Air Force is getting serious about developing a so-called adaptive engine for its current and future fighter jets and is now putting the money where its mouth is. Five giants in the industry were recently awarded contracts worth a whopping $4.9 billion.
General Electric, Pratt &Whitney, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrup Grumman were awarded contracts worth around $975 million each for the prototype phase of the Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion Program.
Until now, only GE Aviation and Pratt & Whitney were developing engines as part of the Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP) with the goal of eventually producing a replacement engine for the F-35 joint strike fighter.
An adaptive engine is called that way because it can operate in different modes, focusing on either peak performance or high fuel efficiency. As Alex Hollings from Sandboxxx News explains, fighter jets are traditionally equipped with engines that can guarantee performance without worrying about fuel efficiency, while cargo and other types of aircraft focus on efficiency, with diminished performance. This new adaptive engine would be able to deliver both.
(Excerpt) Read more at autoevolution.com ...
Well...the F-35 has been such a spectacular success.
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