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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 2972.PDF
HEADLINES BUSINESS PAUL LEWIS / WASHINGTON DC JSF engine company plan axed Pentagon sees no advantage in creating separate entity to produce F136 powerplant but Rolls-Royce keeps 40% stake General Electric and Rolls-Royce have abandoned their idea for a lim ited liability company (LLC) to de velop and produce the F136 turbo- fan for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), in the face of an unenthusiastic response from the US Department of Defense. 35 The two engine manufacturers had hoped to announce the LLC during the Farnborough air show in July, but decided to hold off until the joint venture had been given the DoD's blessing. The Pentagon, however, failed to see any advantage to be gained from the creation of a separate entity and did not want to change the name of the F136 prime contractor from that of GE, with R-R as a subcontractor. R-R is understood to have been keen to establish the LLC to strengthen its position in the US military market, as well as possibly giving the F136 a marketing edge over the rival Pratt & Whitney F135 when it came to the UK selecting an engine for its 150 F-35s. The LLC would have been modelled along the lines of GE and Snecma's CFM International engine venture, giving the US company a controlling 60% stake. Industry sources stress that, despite the LLC being dropped, it will not change the size of R-R's 40% stake in the F136 engine or its relationship with GE. The UK com pany's Indianapolis-based opera tion will still be the lead for the Lufthansa is considering whether to give its regional operations a single corporate identity or regroup them under a single brand, although a final decision has not been taken, says Lufthansa CityLine managing director Karl-Heinz Kopfle. Germany's flag carrier has already given a joint brand to its turboprop carriers - Team Lufthansa - which include Augsburg Airways, Cimber Air and Contact Air, but its regional jet-operating partners, Air Dolomiti, CityLine and Eurowings, do not share branding. CityLine is the only carrier owned outright by Lufthansa, but a Kopfle says the move to a single I identity is unlikely to include big- a ger stakes in the others. "Lufthansa is not interested in equity exchange engine fan, the low-pressure com- bustor and the second and third stages of the low-pressure turbine. R-R's Bristol, UK-based business is responsible for the F-35 short take-off vertical landing (STOVL) variant's lift system for both F135 and F136 under a separate contract. The first three F-35 low-rate ini tial production (LRIP) lots between 2006 and 2008 will be powered exclusively by the F135, with the Lots 4 and 5 in 2009-10 split between the F136 and P&W engine. From Lot 6 the engine will be competitively offered. With the first UK aircraft in LRIP Lot 3, GE is hoping to bring the F136 forward by 12 months to compete for what will be the first international F-35 purchase. Under present planning, the first produc tion F136 engine is expected to run in 2007 and to power an F-35 in mid-2009. With the UK having selected the STOVL F-35, R-R is now expected to begin pushing for the UK to power its JSFs with the F136. There are suggestions that the LLC could eventually be revived to help international marketing. SEE DEFENCE P15 but in co-operation," he says. Lufthansa has the option of dou bling its 24.5% share in Eurowings, but Karl-Friedrich Miiller, Euro wings marketing and sales director, says the option can only be exer cised in the last quarter of next year or the first quarter of 2004. Meanwhile, Lufthansa is exam ining proposals from Bombardier and Embraer for a replacement deal for its defunct order for 60 Fairchild Dornier 728s, plus 60 options. The manufacturers have submit ted bids based on the Bombardier CRJ700/900 and Embraer 170, and a decision is likely by year-end. Kopfle says, however, that "there is no real pressure to hurry the decision because we have enough aircraft capacity" for now. DEFENCE GUY N0RRIS / LOS ANGELES GE gets clearance to start F136 production General Electric has received Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme office clearance to start assembly of the first F136 turbofan following receipt of preliminary design approval for the engine. The milestone enables GE to start ordering long-lead items and sets in motion the timetable for bringing the first engine to test in mid-2004. Approval comes under Phase III of the $460 million pre-system development and demonstration (SDD) contract awarded to GE, and covers construction of two engines, each with two builds. Each will form the focus for specific tests and prove the technology now being demonstrated on test rigs. Funding for the follow-on SDD development phase, which GE expects in 2004, will cover construction of nine test engines. Based on results from the initial rig and pre-SDD tests, GE and the JSF programme office will hold a preliminary design review of the production standard engine in the third quarter of 2005, with a follow-on critical design review in late 2006. More details of the F136 have also emerged. The engine will have a rugged blisk (bladed disk) high-pressure (HP) compressor as well as a blisk fan. It will also have a Lamilloy HP turbine nozzle, advanced HP turbine blades with thermal barrier coatings, a low-observable axisymmetric exhaust nozzle, a vaneless, counter-rotating low-pressure turbine, single annular combustor, tripass diffuser and corrosion resistant bearings. AIR TRANSPORT CHRISTINA MACKENZIE / SALZBURG Lufthansa considers branding Eurowings could share branding with its Lufthansa regional jet partners Lufthans considers branding strategy for regional operations 4 8-14 OCTOBER 2002 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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