Airbus is to collaborate with Rolls- Royce and Siemens in the next phase of its ongoing E-Fan programme to explore hybrid-electric propulsion for commercial aircraft. The E-Fan X technology demonstrator will use a BAe 146 with one of the aircraft’s four engines replaced by a 2MW electric motor and fan. Provisions will be made to replace a second gas turbine engine with an electric motor once system maturity is proven. Using a BAe 146 represents a considerable step up in Airbus hybrid-electric research, with the E-Fan programme so far having involved light aircraft, including the e-Genius, E-Star and E-Fan 1.2 as demonstrators.
The E-Fan X demonstrator will research thermal effects, electric thrust management, altitude and dynamic effects on electric systems and electromagnetic compatibility.
The objectives are to mature the performance, safety and reliability of hybrid electric technology, establish the future certification requirements for electrically powered aircraft and train a new generation of designers and engineers.
Airbus will be responsible for overall aircraft integration, and the control architecture of the hybrid-electric propulsion system and batteries and its integration with the aircraft’s flight controls. Siemens will deliver the electric motors and their power electronic control unit, as well as the inverter, DC/DC converter and power distribution system.
Rolls-Royce will be responsible for the engine, generator and power electronics. Airbus and Rolls-Royce will also both work on the fan adaptation to the existing nacelle and the Siemens electric motor. Mark Broadbent
Big orders in the Gulf
The recent Dubai Air Show saw a flurry of orders activity in the singleaisle airliner market, albeit less intense than previous years. Most notable was Indigo Partners placing the largest ever single order for Airbus aircraft with a memorandum of understanding for 430 A320neo Family aircraft.
The deal, worth $49.5 billion at list prices, makes Indigo Partners one of Airbus’ largest customers, as the jets are in addition to the 427 A320 Family aircraft Indigo has already ordered for its four ultra-low-cost carriers, Frontier Airlines in the United States, Wizz Air in Europe, Volaris in Mexico and JetSMART in Chile. The 430 A320neos will be split as follows: 100 A320neos and 34 A321neos for Frontier, 72 A320neos and 74 A321neos for Wizz, 56 A320neos and 14 A321neos for JetSMART and 46 A320neos and 34 A321neos.
Boeing also announced large singleaisle purchases of its own during Dubai. The low-cost carrier flyDubai ordered 175 737 MAXes (plus 50 options) and the lessor Avolon firmed a previously announced memorandum of understanding for 55 737 MAX 8s and 20 737 MAX 10s. Mark Broadbent
Adir makes IOC
Another Blackjack complete
On November 16, 2017, the latest Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bomber was rolled out of the Kazan Aircraft Plant production hall, a subsidiary of the Tupolev Company. The bomber, 8-04, the fourth aircraft of the eighth production series of Tu-160, and the 35th Blackjack, not counting ground test prototypes, is supposed to begin flight testing in February 2018.
Production of Tu-160 bombers at Kazan lasted until 1994, after which four unfinished airframes remained there. One, 8-02, was the first to be finished and handed over to the Russian Air Force in 1999, followed by 8-03 in 2007. Following the roll-out of 8-04, only aircraft 8-05 remains in the factory.
For the time being, aircraft 8-04 will remain a standard Tu-160, but will eventually receive new equipment and be redesignated as a Tu-160M or M2. The different designations denote a midlife upgrade configuration (M) or a newbuild aircraft (M2); in respect of the systems and equipment installed, both the M and M2 will have the same configuration.
New systems and equipment for both designations are supposed to be ready in 2020. Trials of the modernised variant are expected to be completed in 2021, the year that the first new-build Tu-160M2 is expected to make its maiden flight. The Russian Ministry of Defence currently intends to manufacture 50 new Tu-160M2s.
The Tu-160M/M2 modernisation programme includes replacing the current Obzor-K radar with the Novella NV1.70 made by the Zaslon Company, and installation of new navigation, communications and self-defence suites. The UKBP Company based in Ulyanovsk is developing a new cockpit display system, and the Raduga Company in Dubna is developing the Kh-BD airlaunched cruise missile, which has a longer range than the existing Kh- 101, specifically for the modernised Tu-160. The Kh-101 missile has a 4,000km range (2,160 nautical miles), while the Kh-102 nuclear version has a range of 5,000km (2,700 nautical miles).
Samara-based company Kuznetsov is preparing to launch production of upgraded NK-32 series 02 turbofan engines for the Tu-160.
The 121st Guards Aviation Regiment based at Engels Air Base operates 16 Tu-160 Blackjack bombers, some of which flew the type’s first combat mission on November 17, 2015, launching Kh-101 missiles against targets in Syria.
Further evidence of the recapitalisation of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet came with an announcement in November of a plan to modernise at least half of its 60-plus-strong fleet of Tu- 22M3 Backfires to a new Tu-22M3M standard. The first upgraded aircraft, scheduled to fly in 2018, is expected to be fitted with the same engines, avionics and mission systems as the Tu-160M2 and integration of the Kh-32 advanced cruise missile. As ever with Russian military projects, it is not known how much funding, if any, has been allocated to the programmes. AIR International
New engine flies on a Su-57
On December 5, 2017, Russia’s fifthgeneration Su-57 fighter carried out the type’s first flight fitted with a second-stage engine dubbed the isdeliye (product) 30. Sukhoi’s chief test pilot Sergey Bogdan flew the test mission in aircraft T-50-2, the second prototype, which lasted for 17 minutes.
The new engine was installed on the left with a standard AL-41F1 (isdeliye 117) engine on the right.
United Aircraft Corporation quoted Russia’s Minister of Industry and Trade, Denis Manturov who said the successful flight with the new engine gave an additional impulse to the fifth-generation fighter programme.
The isdeliye 30 engine has been developed by the Moscow-based Lyulka Design Bureau headed by Yevgeniy Marchukov in cooperation with all of the Russian large engine manufacturers. For example, Salyut of Moscow developed the high-pressure compressor, afterburner chamber and thrustvectoring nozzle. Isdeliye 30 engines will be manufactured at the UMPO production plant at Ufa (where the current AL-41F1 is also manufactured). According to design details released, the engine core has a compression ratio of 6.7, air flow of 2,123kg/ sec (4,680lb/sec) and a turbine entry temperature range of 1,950– 2,100K. The maximum thrust with afterburner is expected to be rated in the 17 to 18-tonnes range, while the AL-41F1 is rated at 15 tonnes. A big incentive for developing the isdeliye 30 is India’s requirement for a new fighter engine for the Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft, the Russian-Indian derivative of the Su-57. India does not want its future FGFA powered by the current AL-41F1.
Ukraine’s new tactical UAV
The Antonov AN-BK-1 Horlytsia UAV has started flight testing, it was reported in November. Powered by a pusher propeller, the system is catapult launched and lands on a fixed undercarriage. The vehicle has an endurance of seven hours, 1,000km (539 nautical miles) range and a maximum take-off weight of 200kg (440lb) and it can carry a 50kg (110lb) payload at a cruising speed of 97kts (180km/h). It has an operational radius of 80km (43 nautical miles). Designed by Antonov as an independent research and development programme, the AN-BK-1 is intended to be capable of reconnaissance, target acquisition and weapons delivery missions. It will enter service with Ukraine in 2018. David C Isby
