AEDC team tests F135 production representative engine

  • Published
  • By Philip Lorenz III
  • AEDC/PA
Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. --  Ground testing of the F135 engine powering the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been ongoing at Arnold Engineering Development Center's C-1 test cell since 1999.

According to John Kelly, AEDC's program manager for the tests, the earliest work performed on the F135 was concept testing. Development testing on the F135 took place in AEDC's Test Cell C-1, beginning in 2004; qualification testing started on the F135 in Test Cell J-2 in early 2009. Ground testing on the F135 has covered a wide range of objectives, from evaluating the engine on alternative fuels to validating engine modifications on both Conventional Take Off and Landing/Carrier Variant (CTOL/CV) and Short Takeoff/Vertical Landing (STOVL) variants, some of which are designated for low rate initial production to the U.S. government for the F-35 Lightning II program.

In October 2010, a test team at AEDC achieved a significant milestone with the F135 STOVL variant of the engine with the successful completion of one of the most rigorous, demanding tests in the entire qualification program. This project was another critical step toward government certification.

The high temperature margin test which took place at AEDC involved intentionally running the engine to turbine temperatures beyond design conditions while simultaneously operating the turbomachinery at or above 100 percent of design conditions.

Kelly said with the current testing at AEDC, the Pratt & Whitney F135 continues its steady progress through validation testing to full production and sustainment.

Pratt & Whitney's F135 engine powers the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter for the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy, as well as for eight international partner countries.