Air Force Official: U.S. Needs New F-35 Engine To Prevent 'Stagnating'

Defense officials are considering replacing the F-35 powerplant with a new engine to increase range, thrust, and power management.

Kimberly Johnson

Monday, August 15, 2022 at 05:00 PM ET

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The Air Force, along with the Navy and Marine Corps, announced last month it had grounded the fighters out of an ”abundance of caution." [Courtesy: USAF]

Key Takeaways:

The U.S. military's advantage in fighter jet propulsion is "stagnating" as the F-35 Lightning II requires new engines or significant upgrades to achieve Block 4 capabilities like increased range, thrust, and power management.
The Air Force is considering two new adaptive engines (GE XA100 or Pratt & Whitney XA101) under the Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP) for substantial performance improvements, with a decision expected by Fiscal 2024.
An alternative, and cheaper, option is to upgrade the current F135 engine for more conservative gains, which maintains commonality across F-35 variants and allied forces.
The choice involves a trade-off between the higher performance of a new adaptive engine (preferred by propulsion officials) and the lower cost, tri-variant commonality, and interoperability offered by upgrading the existing F135 engine (supported by some in Congress).

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The U.S. military’s advantage in fighter jet propulsion is “essentially stagnating” without a new replacement engine for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, according to a top official at the U.S. Air Force propulsion directorate.

F-35 fighters, which are powered by a Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 turbofan engine, are in need of Block 4 upgrades that allow for increased range, thrust, and power management. The Air Force’s Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP) is considering two potential engines for the modernization effort: the GE Aviation XA100 and Pratt & Whitney XA101. Defense officials are expected to make a final decision on the replacement by Fiscal 2024.