Pratt & Whitney F135 Engine Exceeds 9,000 SDD Ground Test Hours
The Pratt & Whitney F135 engine exceeded 9,000 system development and demonstration (SDD) ground test hours this week. This achievement, in addition to the 3,600 test hours accumulated during the F-35 concept demonstration program, puts engine test program hours at more than 12,600.
Achieving 9,000 SDD ground test hours is one of a series of milestones for the F135 propulsion system development program. Pratt & Whitney’s F135 conventional take-off and landing engine continues to power the F-35 Lightning II flight test program with 32 flight tests and more than 35 flight test hours to date.
Rated at more than 40,000 pounds of thrust, the F135 is the most powerful fighter engine ever built. The technologically advanced F135 is an evolution of the highly successful F119 engine for the F-22 Raptor. By the time the F- 35 enters operation in 2013, the F119 engines will have logged more than 600,000 flying hours and the F135 will have logged more than 16,000 flying hours.
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