USAF issues RfI for replacement F-35 engine

News

The US Air Force (USAF) posted a Request for Information (RfI) on the sam.gov late-January in relation to the F-35 Adaptive Engine Replacement (FAER) programme, requesting responses by February 28.

This effectively fires the starting gun for a head-to-head contest to up-engine the USAF’s F-35A Joint Strike fighter between the General Electric XA-100 and Pratt & Whitney XA-101 powerplant, which are currently in competition within the Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP).

F-35A engine
The F-35’s engine produces 43,000lb of thrust and consists of a three-stage fan, a six-stage compressor, an annular combustor, a single-stage high-pressure turbine, and a two-stage low-pressure turbine. US Air Force/Staff Sgt Laurel Richards

While the AETP effort, launched in 2016, is ostensibly designed to provide a powerplant for the sixth generation of USAF fighters, the parameters of the programme stipulate that the resulting powerplant be retrofittable into the F-35A.

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Originally published in Key.Aero