• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Pratt & Whitney to develop advanced ceramic turbine for U.S. Army UAV applications

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. October 20, 2002 -– Pratt & Whitney, in conjunction with the United Technologies Research Center, will develop an advanced turbine component for potential U.S. Army unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications. Under a 39-month contract recently awarded by the Army's Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD), P&W will develop critical ceramic turbine technologies to support a future 500 shaft horsepower (shp) engine demonstration program. The program is valued at more than $2 million.

The Army is developing the advanced engine to support future UAV and objective force systems. The engine is expected to have a 20 percent reduction in specific fuel consumption, a 50 percent improvement in shp-to-weight, and a 35 percent reduction in production costs. AATD anticipates a demonstration of the 500 shp heavy fuel engine in the 2004 timeframe. To meet these aggressive performance demands, use of ceramic technology is a focus because of its potential for reduced cost and weight, combined with significantly increased temperature capability.

Pratt & Whitney will develop advanced ceramic turbine components, such as the one pictured here, for future Army UAV engine applications.

"We are pleased to work with Pratt & Whitney on this important program," said Ming Lau, chief of power systems division at AATD. "In concert with the United Technologies Research Center, they have demonstrated success in ceramic turbine technology. Their depth and breadth of experience is expected to position us for success in reaching our ambitious program goals."

P&W's efforts include the pursuit of ceramic turbine technology for dynamic engine components, produced in a low-cost, repeatable process. "It is commonly known that using ceramic hot section components should allow for lower cost and higher performance engines," said Kevin Farrell, general manager of small military engine programs, P&W. "The challenge has been to be able to repeatedly produce a quality ceramic product. Thanks to the past efforts of UTRC along with other government agencies, we are ready to meet the challenge and push the state of the art, to provide the Army a high performance, low-cost, low-risk turbine. This is a game changer. We are excited about this program, and the opportunities for this technology to be used in future unmanned aircraft, as well as potential use for manned aircraft."

# # #