Northrop Grumman is teamed with McDonnell Douglas and British Aerospace in the competition to build the next-generation Joint Strike Fighter for the United States and the United Kingdom. The McDonnell Douglas/Northrop Grumman/British Aerospace team has developed an affordable design to meet the needs of the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and the Royal Navy well into the next century.
The U.S. Defense Department has announced it will award contracts to two industry teams in October 1996 for a weapon systems concept demonstration program. Each team will build demonstrator aircraft for two service variants using the same tooling, and will convert one of them to the third service variant to demonstrate the high degree of commonality across all three variants. The engineering and manufacturing development contract is scheduled to be awarded to one industry team in 2001. The Defense Department projects that more than 3,000 strike fighter aircraft will be needed early in the first half of the next century to replace tactical aircraft. The first Joint Strike Fighter could enter service as early as 2008.
The McDonnell Douglas/Northrop Grumman/British Aerospace team is the only one with experience in carrier-based and STOVL (short takeoff and vertical landing) development. The team brings together experience designing and producing state-of-the-art, front-line combat fighters, as well as strength and experience in STOVL; carrier-based and conventional takeoff-and-landing aircraft; advanced low-observables technology and manufacturing; airborne information processing and integration; advanced avionics and sensors; and simulation, lean manufacturing and prototyping.
The team has selected the Lift + Lift/Cruise concept for the STOVL variant to be used by the Marine Corps and the Royal Navy. In this concept, a separate forward engine will provide lift, while the rear cruise engine will provide rear lift and conventional forward thrust. For development of the lift engine, the team is partnered with General Electric and Allison. The benefits of this propulsion system include minimizing the size of the inlet and main engine bay, maximizing the weapons bring-back potential, and simplifying the manufacture of the JSF.
Since the McDonnell Douglas/Northrop Grumman/British Aerospace team uses the same engine developed for the F-22 -- the Pratt & Whitney F119 -- with only minimal changes, this design minimizes main engine development cost and schedule risk. The design also could have growth potential.
Northrop Grumman has received JSF awards worth more than $78 million for work including the Weapons System Concept, Avionics Virtual Systems Engineering and Prototyping, and the Affordable Weapons Delivery System contracts. In February 1996, the company's Electronic Sensors and Systems Division received a $48 million contract to design, build and flight test the Multifunction Integrated Radio Frequency System.
The first JSF could enter service as early as the year 2008. The aircraft will replace aging F-16's, F/A-18's, A-10's, F/A-2's and AV-8B's. As many as 3,000 JSF's could be built.
Northrop Grumman's work on the Joint Strike Fighter is based at the company's Advanced Technology and Development Center in Pico Rivera, Calif. The Center is responsible for developing new military business for Northrop Grumman's electronics and military aircraft business units, as well as supporting the other business units, fostering nontraditional business, and maintaining the company's technology base in support of its core competencies.
Prime Contractor: Lockheed Martin, British Aerospace
Country of Origin: USA
Type: Experimental prototype for new strike fighter
Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin (Tactical Aircraft Systems)
Crew: 1
Dimensions
Length: 15.5m
Wingspan: 10.0m (wing fold if necessary to 9,1m)
Wing area: 41.8 sq.m or 50.2 sq.m for the carrier version
Weight: Classified
Performance
Max. speed: around Mach 1.5
Radius of action (Reichweite): around 1500 km for US Navy version
Other Information
Armament: Two fuselage weapons bays for the carriage of two 450 kg bombs and two AIM-120 AMRAAMS. Enlarged bays will carry two 900 kg bombs and the AMRAAMs instead. External hardpoints are provided for non-stealthy missions.
Power plant: 1 x Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofan (SE611 derivative with scaled-up fan and additional low-pressure turbine stage)
Thrust: 1 x ca. 155 kN maximum. For short take-offs and vertical landings, a clutch is engaged to drive a vertical lift fan via a shaft from the front of the engine, which also carries a "three-bearing" rotating nozzle. The lift fan, developed by Allison, will have 18500 lbs (82 kN) of thrust.
Customers
Two demonstrators will be built under Pentagon contract. According to the latest Quadrennial Defence Review, potential customer needs are:
US Air Force: 1763
US Marine Corps: 609 (STOVL)
US Navy: 480 (carrier capable version)
Royal Navy (UK): 60 (STOVL)
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