The XA100’s improved fuel efficiency provides a significant reduction in carbon emissions and will operate on any U.S. Air Force-approved Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
GE Aviation has announced that the company, in partnership with The United States Air Force, has successfully concluded testing on GE’s second XA100 adaptive cycle engine at the Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) located in Tennessee, U.S. According to GE, after concluding the testing at the Arnold Engineering Development Complex, the company has achieved the final major contract milestone of the Air Force’s Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP), which began in 2016.
The XA100 adaptive cycle engine is a product of GE Edison Works, a business unit dedicated to the research, development, and production of advanced military solutions. This business unit has full responsibility for strategy, innovation, and execution of advanced programs.
“This is the culmination of more than a decade of methodical risk reduction and testing GE has completed with the Air Force across three different adaptive cycle engine programs,” said David Tweedie, vice president and general manager for Advanced Products, GE Edison Works. “The engine performance data we gathered at AEDC continued to show the XA100’s transformational capability, while also demonstrating a return on substantial Air Force and taxpayer investment. We now stand ready to transition to an Engineering and Manufacturing Development program and bring this engine to the field with the F-35 before the end of this decade,” he further added.
The XA100 adaptive cycle engine combines three key innovations to deliver a generational change in combat propulsion performance:
- An adaptive engine cycle that provides both a high-thrust mode for maximum power and a high-efficiency mode for optimum fuel savings and loiter time.
- A third-stream architecture that provides a step-change in thermal management capability, enabling future mission systems for increased combat effectiveness.
- Extensive use of advanced component technologies, including ceramic matrix composites (CMC), polymer matrix composites (PMC), and additive manufacturing.
“This engine isn’t a concept, proposal, or research program. This is a flight-weight, highly product-relevant engine that would provide the F-35 with 30% more range, greater than 20% faster acceleration, and significant mission systems growth to harness the F-35’s full capabilities for Block 4 upgrades, and beyond,” David Tweedie, vice president and general manager for Advanced Products, GE Edison Works continued. “The XA100 is the only F-35 propulsion modernization option that has been built, fully tested, and evaluated against Air Force performance targets, and the only option that provides the Air Force the capability it needs to outpace its adversaries for decades to come,” he added further.
The above-mentioned revolutionary innovations increase thrust by more than 10%, improve fuel efficiency by 25%, and provide significantly more aircraft heat dissipation capacity, all within the same physical envelope as current propulsion systems. GE’s engine is uniquely designed to fit in the F-35A, as well as the F-35C without modifications to the tailhook. The XA100’s improved fuel efficiency provides a significant reduction in carbon emissions and will operate on any U.S. Air Force-approved Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
