https://www.dau.edu
variable cycle design. P&W also had a reputedly better management plan and development schedule “that was considered extremely responsive to customer needs” (Aronstein et al., 1998). P&W had won the first battle for a fifth-generation aircraft engine, and the decision proved final, with no subsequent engine war to revive the YF120 engine for the F-22.
In the spring of 1995, airframe contractors Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and McDonnell Douglas all began competing during the concept development and risk reduction phase of the DoD’s JSF program, designed to create affordable aircraft for the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. Given the relative maturity of the F119 and its design heritage as a fifth-generation compatible engine, all three contractors elected to incorporate a derivative of the F119 as the engine for their conceptual designs. Concerned about the growing P&W dominance of military fighter engines, Congress directed the Joint Program Office (JPO) to pursue a second engine source to maintain competition; therefore, in late 1995, development contracts were awarded to P&W for an F119 derivative that eventually became the F135, and to GE for an F120 derivative that would subsequently become the F136. Congress intended to follow the model of the Great Engine War, with JSFs eventually fielded with both F135s and F136s. DoD continued funding both engine developments until 2007 when the department proposed termination of the F136 since the development of the F135 was
113
Defense ARJ , Summer 2025, Vol. 32 No. 2: 104—130
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker