The US Air Force and Pratt & Whitney have upgraded the F119 engines for the fifth generation F119 aircraft. The upgrade of power plants for the entire fleet of fighters is due to a problem with the blades.
What is known
The US Air Force and Pratt & Whitney had to upgrade all engines due to seven accidents caused by blade fatigue, which amounted to almost $23 million in damage. The upgrade of the power plants cost $21 million.
After determining the cause of the malfunction, the USAF and Pratt & Whitney agreed on a plan of action. The fault was rectified in record time. During the modernization, the Pentagon did not stop the flights of fighters. This was stated by Julie Ireland (Julie Ireland), director of the engine program Pratt F119.
Despite the record-breaking pace of modernization, we still do not know exactly when it was completed. A Pratt & Whitney spokesperson says all work was completed ahead of schedule in December 2022. But Brian Brackens, a spokesman for the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at the US Air Force, says they have extended through May 2023.
The F119 is a high temperature bypass engine with afterburner and thrust vector control. It was created on the basis of the F100, and later formed the basis of the F135 for the fifth generation fighter F-35 Lightning II.
The power plant is capable of generating thrust of almost 103 kN. At the same time, afterburner thrust is more than 155 kN. The F119 engine allows the fifth-generation F-22 Raptor fighter to reach speeds of over 2,400 km/h (M=2.25).
Source: Breaking Defense
2023-07-14 18:19:45
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