As the Air Force Association’s annual warfare symposium gets underway Feb. 12 in Denver, RTX‘s [RTX] Pratt & Whitney is reporting progress on a prototype XA103 engine for U.S. Air Force and other sixth generation fighter aircraft.
Pratt & Whitney “has completed a critical assessment of its Next-Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) offering with the U.S. Air Force, moving the program closer to completing its detailed design review,” the company said on Feb. 12. “The team is now working toward ground testing of its NGAP prototype, referred to as XA103, which is expected to occur in the late 2020s.”
The Air Force has proposed cancelling the
Advanced Engine Transition Program for the Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35 fighter and moving forward with Pratt & Whitney’s proposed Engine Core Upgrade (ECU) for the company’s F135 engine (Defense Daily, March 13).
General Electric [GE] has been developing the XA100 adaptive cycle engine to give future, tactical fighters 30 percent increased range, 20 percent more acceleration, and 200 percent more thermal management.
Advanced adaptive engines are “critical to maintaining air superiority, which is why Pratt & Whitney has made significant investments in research and development and advanced manufacturing,” Jill Albertelli, president of Pratt & Whitney’s military engines business, said in a company statement on Feb. 12. “Continued government funding for sixth-generation propulsion development must remain a high priority to support critical platform milestones and warfighter readiness.”