A GE/Rolls-Royce F136 engine was damaged during testing on September 23.
According to an F136 Fighter Engine Team release, engine ‘008’ suffered damage to its front fan and compressor area but was shut down in a “controlled manner” after a near maximum speed test on a stand. A detailed inspection will be carried out but two other test engines have shown no signs of “similar distress”.
The F136 is the alternate engine for the F-35 JSF program and a rival to P&W’s F135, and has weathered five attempts at cancellation by the Pentagon in recent years, surviving only through the reinstatement of funding by Senate and House armed services committees during the US defence budget approval process.
