The GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team has successfully completed a high-altitude afterburner testing program at the U.S. Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tennessee, including common exhaust hardware for the F-35 Lightning II aircraft. All test objectives were reached as planned using an F136 engine configured with Conventional Takeoff and Landing (CTOL) and Short Takeoff Vertical Landing (STOVL) common exhaust systems.

The F-35 is a next-generation, multirole stealth aircraft designed to replace the AV-8B Harrier, A-10, F-16, F/A-18 Hornet and the United Kingdom's Harrier GR.7 and Sea Harrier. The F136 engine delivers more than 40,000 pounds of thrust and will power all variants of the F-35 for the U.S. military and its eight partner nations.

The engine configuration included a production-size fan and functional augmenter allowing several run periods to full afterburner operation.

A second F136 engine continues to undergo testing at the GE test facility in Peebles, Ohio, including both CTOL and STOVL controls technology test missions.

Testing began on schedule at Peebles and all of the CTOL test objectives were successfully accomplished in mid-March. STOVL testing will continue over the upcoming weeks at the new GE test facility, which represents a multimillion-dollar investment by the company.

The two engines were originally produced during the pre-System Development and Demonstration (SDD) contract. Since then, the power plants have been updated with new fan, augmenter and controls technology designed during the SDD process.

The pre-SDD engines have totaled more than 600 hours of test time, contributing significantly to risk reduction in the program. The first full SDD engine is scheduled to begin testing by early 2009, with first flight in the F-35 to follow in 2010.

The F136 program remains on schedule and within budget and is fully funded by the U.S. Government for FY 2008.

About 800 engineers and technicians are engaged in the F136 program at GE Aviation's Cincinnati, Ohio, headquarters, at Rolls-Royce facilities in Indianapolis, Indiana; and in Bristol, England.

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