Sierra Nevada Corp (SNC) has contracted with GE Aerospace to help overhaul and upgrade the GEnx-2B engines for the Boeing 747-8 chosen as the platform for the U.S. Air Force’s Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC). The companies will modify the widebody airliner under the $13 billion Pentagon contract won in April by SNC to replace the current E-4B Nightwatch aircraft, now powered by GE’s CF6 engines.
Expected to run into the 2030s, the SAOC program calls for SNC to take responsibility for developing and integrating the capability the Air Force needs. According to GE, the GEnx engines will deliver up to a 15 percent improvement in fuel efficiency compared with the current CF6 turbofans while running 30 percent quieter and reducing emissions of nitrogen oxides and other gases.
As it seeks to tap defense export markets, GE Aerospace has shifted much of its attention to making its propulsion systems more affordable for U.S. allies. Platforms it hopes to power include South Korea’s KF-21 Boramae fighter and Turkey’s TF-X. It has previously enjoyed export success with engines on Apache helicopters for Poland and F-16 fighters for Greece.
According to Amy Gowder, president and CEO of GE Aerospace Defense & Systems, remaining competitive in export markets means shifting design practices to achieve what she described as “affordable mass for multiple buys.” She said the group's footprint in Asia, where the company operates engineering centers in Japan, India, and Korea, will help support prospects in other export markets.
Digital Backbone Supports Upgrades
In June, GE unveiled its Time Sensitive Networking Digital Backbone computing platform, which it has developed to control multiple systems and avionics for civil and military aircraft. The open architecture platform, which can work with multiple different systems to facilitate modifications, already forms the core computing system for Boeing’s 787 airliner. The U.S. Army also chose the system for the V-280 Valor future military tiltrotor.
“The U.S. Army is very excited about this because it is truly open and modular, so they can upgrade avionics, integrating new electronic warfare capabilities by adding network nodes and building new circuit cards,” Gowder told AIN.
In the longer term, GE continues to invest in the rotating detonation combustion technology it believes could power future Mach 5 hypersonic aircraft. In December, it demonstrated a sub-scale dual-mode ramjet test rig and is working toward running a scaled-up version later this year.
Another research and development priority is the adaptive cycle engine with an advanced thrust control system GE has in mind for future military platforms. “We want to have the cruise and fuel efficiency of an airliner to be able to loiter longer, but when we needed there would be the thrust and maneuverability to operate like a fighter,” Gowder explained. “Another advantage is that it will have a third stream of air for more cooling that comes.”