Pratt & Whitney, an RTX business, has completed a series of tests on its rotating detonation engine (RDE) work with the RTX Technology Research Center. Positive test results are spurring additional internal investment as Pratt & Whitney works with Department of Defense to accelerate a path to an integrated engine and vehicle ground test in the coming years.
“Our testing simulated aggressive assumptions for how and where the rotating detonation engine needs to perform,” said Chris Hugill, Senior Director of GATORWORKS at Pratt & Whitney.
“This testing validated key elements of Pratt & Whitney’s design approach and provides substantiation to continue RTX vehicle and propulsion integration to accelerate future capabilities for our customers,” he added.
Rotating detonation engines differ from traditional turbojet or turbofan engines in that they utilize a different thermodynamic cycle and require no moving parts. The result is high thermal efficiency and performance, which allows for a small, compact and cost-effective engine. These attributes create room for additional fuel, sensors and payload, and can enable longer-range for vehicles that are critical to future defense applications.
Pratt & Whitney also announced that the F135 engine has surpassed one million engine flight hours powering the F-35 Lightning II. In achieving this milestone, the F135 has established itself as the safest, most capable and reliable fighter engine, delivering superior performance and advanced low-observable technologies for the fifth-generation fighter.
“The F135 engine plays a critical role in maintaining global air superiority for the U.S. and its allies, as it enables the F-35 mission in even the most contested environments,” said Jill Albertelli, President of Military Engines at Pratt & Whitney.
“The engine has powered every F-35 since the fighter’s first flight in 2006, providing exceptional safety and readiness rates. Accomplishing this milestone in under two decades demonstrates how critical the F-35 remains and highlights Pratt & Whitney’s commitment to our customer and the warfighter,” she noted.
Pratt & Whitney’s F135 engine delivers a generational leap in performance and reliability, giving warfighters the assurance that it will be ready to meet mission demands. It continuously exceeds full mission capability rate requirements of 94% and offers operators an exceptional, unmatched safety record. The F135’s safety rate is more than an order of magnitude better than previous generations of fighter engines when compared across engine life cycles.
To help maintain mission readiness, the F135 sustainment network supports several global depot facilities, 36 bases, and 12 ships internationally. This positions the engine as a key enabler of Agile Combat Employment, a military operational concept that utilizes a network of smaller, dispersed locations to increase survivability while generating combat power. This concept requires continuous movement, logistics efficiencies, and specialized maintenance skills - all which Pratt & Whitney can accommodate by leveraging the F135’s internationally dispersed infrastructure.
As the F-35 is modernized to include the new capabilities needed to defeat future threats, it will require more performance from the engine. Pratt & Whitney’s Engine Core Upgrade (ECU) leverages learnings from advanced engine programs, builds upon the F135’s track record of success, and offers the performance needed to stay ahead of adversaries.
To date, Pratt & Whitney has delivered more than 1,300 F135 production engines to a global enterprise that includes 20 allied nations around the world.
Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines and auxiliary power units.
With more than 185,000 global employees, and through industry-leading businesses (Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, and Raytheon), RTX is advancing aviation, engineering integrated defense systems, and developing next-generation technology solutions and manufacturing to help global customers address their most critical challenges. The company, with 2023 sales of $69 billion, is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, USA.
