F405

The F405 Adour engine, with 5,527 pounds thrust, is used in the T-45 Aircraft. The dual-9-spool, low-bypass Adour MK871 (known in the U.S. as F405) is the powerplant for the US Navy Boeing T-45A Goshawk trainer aircraft.

The Life Enhancement of the F-405 Compressor Drum was initiated and contracted for in June of 1999. The effort was with Rolls Royce to qualify a replacement compressor drum for the F405. The goal was to increase the life of the drum from 2,000 to 4,000 hours and reduce O&S costs. As a result of the COSSI investment and the Navy critical component testing, the Navy discovered that the life of the existing compressor drum was approximately 50% greater than previously believed. The knowledge of the increased life of the existing drum will result in a net present value of savings estimated at $24 million. That is $24 million in savings from the initial Stage I investment of $750,000 without any further investment or procurement efforts.

The Stage I phase was successful and proved that the new compressor drum has significantly improved the component life and achieved the targeted unit cost. New compressor drum life is determined to be 3,840 hours. Additionally, the Stage I testing, in conjunction with The Navy Component Improvement Program (CIP), initiative recently (April 2002) updated the service life on all failure critical components of the F405 Adour engine. The CIP included additional spin testing and the application of thermal transient analysis to critical component life forecasting. This effort increased the life of the existing compressor drum from 2,000 to 2,900 hours. The increase in the baseline life of the existing compressor drum eliminates the need for a new compressor drum.

The project was approximately 18 months behind the original schedule contracted in June of 1999. This was in part due to contractor complications in developing the transient model for the COSSI drum analysis. Also, separate existing drum spin test results were found to be pertinent to the COSSI analysis. Although this negatively impacted the COSSI schedule, it did provide benefit in that it allowed a reduction in scope required to complete the COSSI testing and analysis.

The T-45's F405-RR-401 engine is supported through a PBL Power by the Hour (PBH) contract with Rolls Royce. Performance is based on aircraft flying time and paid per flight hour. The engine contractor provides a minimum number of RFI engines to the aircraft PBL contractor. The ACO will be responsible to make any adjustments to the actual engine inventory. Performance Based Logistics (PBL) is the preferred Department of Defense (DoD) product support strategy to improve weapons system readiness by procuring performance, which capitalizes on integrated logistics chains and public/private partnerships. The cornerstone of PBL is the purchase of weapons system sustainment as an affordable, integrated package based on output measures such as weapons system availability, rather than input measures, such as parts and technical services.

Rolls-Royce Defense Services Inc., Indianapolis, Ind., was awarded on 02 September 2003 a requirements contract with a not-to-exceed value of $51,197,805 to provide power-by-the-hour (PBTH) logistics support for approximately 175 T-45 F405-RR-401 engines. PBTH support to be provided includes maintaining and controlling the current inventory of F405-RR-401 engines, modules, spare and repair parts, as well as additional engines added to the fleet, including engines delivered with new production aircraft. Work will be performed in Meridian, Miss. (50.41%); Kingsville, Texas (49.04%); and Patuxent River, Md. (.55%), and is expected to be completed in September 2004. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-03-D-0012).

Rolls-Royce Defense Services Inc., Indianapolis, Ind., was awarded on September 27, 2005 a $63,260,398 fixed-price modification to a previously awarded requirements contract (N00019-03-D-0012) to exercise an option for Power-By-the-Hour (PBTH®) logistics support for approximately 188 T-45 F405-RR-401 engines. Work will be performed at the Naval Air Station (NAS) Meridian, Miss. (50 percent); NAS Kingsville, Texas (48.94 percent); and NAS Patuxent River, Md. (1.06 percent), and is expected to be completed in September 2006. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

The MK951, an upgrade of the 6,000-pound thrust class Adour MK871, is the powerplant for and an integral part of the Hawk Lead-in Fighter Trainer (LIFT) program. BAE Systems developed the LIFT program for a cost-effective pilot training system capable of producing high-caliber aircrew for current and projected front-line combat aircraft. The MK951 engine incorporates a new compression system, combustor, and turbines, as well as a Full Authority Digital Electronic Control (FADEC) and features improved performance and up to twice the life of the current MK871 engine. The FADEC automatically controls engine fuel flow to govern engine speeds and to provide the desired response to the pilot's power lever command and replaces the more cumbersome hydro-mechanical control, similar to the way electronic controls have replaced the carburetor and distributor in modern automobile engines. The advantage of the FADEC is that the engine control schedules can be optimized at each flight condition and can be altered relatively quickly and cheaply in response to changes in mission requirements or operational problems encountered in the field.

The Build 11 testing conducted in fiscal 2002 enabled Rolls-Royce to meet critical schedule requirements while waiting for the new fan. Following the Build 11 tests, the engine was sent back to Bristol, England, fitted with a new fan, combustor and low-pressure turbine and underwent sea level testing before returning to AEDC.

The MK951 Build 12 engine incorporated the previously AEDC-tested MK951 engine Build 11 with a new fan and low-pressure turbine. Working around dynamic test requirements, personnel at the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) at Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. tested the Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour MK951 engine enabling Rolls-Royce to meet critical flight test schedules. The Adour MK951 program achieved flight clearance following 351 hours of testing in AEDC's Propulsion Development Test Cell T-4. The flight engine had to return to Bristol, England, by mid-April 2003 and be delivered to the customer for flight testing. During these engine tests, the AEDC/Rolls-Royce team operated the engine at simulated flight conditions from sea level to 45,000 feet and Mach numbers from 0 to 1.2 at standard, cold-day and hot-day conditions to map fan and compressor performance and to verify revised FADEC schedules for engine handling and starts.