While the U.S. Air Force is examining industry capacity to build engines for the future Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), the service also wants a feel for the broader landscape on advanced small engines.
The acquisition branch of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s propulsion directorate (AFLCMC/LPA) at Tinker AFB, Okla., on Nov. 17 said that it had issued an advanced small engines request for information (RFI) dealing with “propulsion for small-scale current and future weapons systems.”
The directorate said that the RFI has controlled unclassified information (CUI) and thus did not release it.
The directorate said that its “Advanced Small Engine Team is seeking information on current and future propulsion options that provide platform capability to achieve United States Government (USG) objectives.”
“This RFI seeks to better characterize the technological, manufacturing, and business capabilities of the industrial base to develop and produce material solutions to address these objectives,” a summary of the RFI said. “Some of these material solutions have requirements for lower cost propulsion that can be rapidly produced in high volumes, but the USG is interested in all options that explore the complete trade space. This RFI focuses on capability at discrete intervals defined as immediate, mid (4 years), and far (8 years) terms from RFI release.”
“The USG recognizes the wide breadth of potential propulsion capabilities within the thrust and Mach ranges listed in the full RFI,” the notice said. “This RFI is intended to inform trade space analyses of various expendable, attritable, and reusable weapons and unmanned vehicle applications and requirements.’
The directorate said that the “RFI is a separate effort from the recently released RFI from AFLCMC/LPA pertaining to Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA).” On Sept. 29, AFLCMC/LPA released that RFI, which AFLCMC said is also CUI. On CCA, AFLCMC/LPA wants a gauge of industry capacity to build 3,000-8,000-pound thrust engines that provide “increased range, reduced runway take-off distance, increased Mach capability, increased power and thermal capacity, and increased payload.”
House defense authorizers want a report from Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall on plans for “high-volume manufacturing of large attritable engine technologies for CCA” (Defense Daily, Aug. 2).
“The committee remains concerned about reports that China is expanding its exclusive economic zone and recognizes that successful combat air operations in an Indo-Pacific contingency will be increasingly dependent on unmanned Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) to supplement finite numbers of fifth and sixth generation fighter aircraft,” the House authorizers said in their report on their fiscal 2024 bill. “The committee encourages continued clarification of manned-unmanned aircraft teaming concepts and investment in cost-effective, limited-life technologies to facilitate this emerging warfighting concept. Additionally, the committee supports the use of these technologies as a sustainable long-term training solution for adversary air applications, which will become increasingly critical as the Department of Defense seeks to resolve its current pilot shortage and pilot training deficiencies.”