The US Navy plans to task General Electric Aircraft Engines with reducing the specific fuel consumption for the propulsion system powering its Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fleet.
The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) on 23 March announced plans to award the contract to GE, designating its F414-GE-400 engine for the demonstration programme.
The NAVAIR acquisition notice does not detail the amount of specific fuel consumption reduction expected through the work. But the contractor must build a single engine to demonstrate the fuel-saving technologies, quantify the amount of fuel savings both individually and in combination, and provide a plant to incorporate the new technologies across the fleet, it says.
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© Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class James Evans US Navy |
NAVAIR has also asked GE to estimate the cost of incorporating the fuel-saving technologies "in the shortest amount of time".
The USN has an active fleet of 341 Super Hornets, plus eight EA-18G Growler electronic-attack aircraft, according to Flight's MiliCAS database.