“If we’re back here talking about a potential engine upgrade in another 15 years, my guess is it’s for a different reason,” Latka said. She said the engine core and thermal system upgrades together “provides a tremendous amount of cooling margin” - more than enough to comfortably allow future F-35 capability upgrades beyond 2035, without further improvements to the engine. And an upgrade to the power thermal management systems would allow the F-35 to handle future upgrades beyond Block 4, Latka said. An upgrade to the engine’s core alone would let the F135 more fully enable Block 4, she said. In a briefing with reporters Wednesday, Jen Latka, Pratt & Whitney’s vice president of F135 programs, said the current engines would be able to handle the Block 4 upgrades, albeit at an increased maintenance cost. More engine cooling - but will it be enough? However, that means the engine upgrades necessary to handle the added heat may come a few years later than the F-35 will receive its Block 4 upgrades, now projected to be finished in 2029. The upgrades to the engines’ core and thermal management system are expected to be fielded in the early 2030s, he said, though the exact schedule will depend on what design is ultimately approved. Goemaere said in his original email the JPO is in the early design stages as it weighs several options for improving the fighters’ thermal management systems, which will take place alongside the F135′s core upgrades. In a Friday statement after this story’s initial publication, the JPO said, “We have a firm handle on engine and power thermal management system options that are needed for future cooling needs, based on the service’s requirements.” The JPO also said the services will provide the cooling requirements they need to support the capabilities they want for their F-35s. The Pentagon disagreed with that recommendation, saying the F-35 program will re-evaluate its analysis when necessary as the services’ requirements are updated. GAO recommended the Pentagon order the JPO, before moving forward with the engine modernization effort, to re-evaluate its analysis of how to upgrade the F-35′s engines after the services spell out what power and cooling capabilities they will need. “The ECU will restore engine life, and the will ensure that the air vehicle can support future capability growth,” JPO spokesman Russ Goemaere said in an email. In a statement to Defense News, the F-35 Joint Program Office said it is confident the ECU engine upgrades can “minimize” the $38 billion in costs GAO highlighted. Without an engine upgrade, GAO said, the added heat could drive up the cost of maintaining the existing engines by $38 billion. An upgrade program known as Block 4 - a $16.5 billion project to add new sensors, more advanced weapons, and more powerful data fusion and advanced electronic warfare - will further tax the engines’ cooling capabilities. GAO said the F-35 program can’t fully predict how much power and cooling the fighter will need until the military services flying the aircraft define their own requirements.īut already, new capabilities being added to the F-35 are stretching its cooling capabilities beyond their original design, causing the engines to wear out faster. The program risks repeating a similar mismatch between PTMS and engine capability and future modernization needs if the military services select an option without first defining future requirements.” “By proceeding with planning and development of future capabilities without considering the demands on the PTMS and engine, the program endorsed capabilities that neither could support. “Without defined PTMS and engine modernization requirements, the F-35 program is at greater risk of repeating prior missteps,” GAO said. Just a few years after completing the effort, the F-35 program “will face a period of unknown requirements” for its future capabilities - and may be in danger of future cost overruns and other mistakes, according to the new report. The finding spotlights the uncertainty the program faces as it prepares for a major upgrade to the Pratt & Whitney-made F135 engines, dubbed the Engine Core Upgrade.
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