Turkish firms join propulsion program

News

Pratt & Whitney has awarded manufacturing work for critical components of the Joint Strike Fighter's F135 engine to Turkish aerospace companies Alp Aviation and KaleKalip.

announced yesterday that it has awarded manufacturing work for critical components of the Joint Strike Fighter's (JSF) F135 propulsion system to Turkish aerospace companies

and

.

Alp Aviation will manufacture the F135's fan rear hub and KaleKalip will produce F135 compressor shrouds, components critical to the operation of the F135 engine.

The F135 engine is the only propulsion system currently in the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase of the JSF development program. To date, the F135 has accumulated more than 3,000 SDD test hours, in addition to more than 3,500 hours accumulated during pre-SDD testing.

In August, Pratt & Whitney will begin assembly of the first flight test F135 engine, which will be delivered to Lockheed Martin in December of this year. The F135 program will achieve Initial Flight Release in January 2006 and will be the only engine to power the F-35's first flight in August 2006.

Register now to continue reading

Thanks for visiting The Engineer. You’ve now reached your monthly limit of news stories. Register for free to unlock unlimited access to all of our news coverage, as well as premium content including opinion, in-depth features and special reports.  

Benefits of registering

  • In-depth insights and coverage of key emerging trends

  • Unrestricted access to special reports throughout the year

  • Daily technology news delivered straight to your inbox

Register
Or continue by

Signing in with your registered email address