Recently, the retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Sam Angela disclosed to the outside world for the first time some of the latest details of the newly developed XA-100 adaptive variable cycle engine by GE General Electric (hereinafter referred to as GE). According to news, this This engine will conduct the first round of technical PK with another group of companies XA-101 at the end of 2020 or 2021. According to U.S. media reports, in order to take the lead in future air combat, the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation fighter jet engine has extremely high performance requirements and plans to consume more cruise fuel than the F-119 (the only F22 supersonic cruise stealth fighter currently in mass production). A further reduction of 20% will increase the maximum military thrust by 5%, the full afterburner thrust by 10%, and the maximum combat range will be greatly extended by 30%.
Some analysis pointed out that the new generation of US engines will increase the combat radius of fighter jets by 25% to 30%, and increase the space time by 30% to 40%. The XA-100 adaptive variable cycle engine can provide fighter jets for mid-to-low altitude subsonic flight. Smaller fuel consumption, supersonic flight at mid-to-high altitude (about 15 kilometers) provides greater thrust, and it is expected to achieve supersonic cruise of Mach 2 to 3. At present, the F-22 can only achieve supersonic cruise of Mach 1.6. Of course, the new engine may also provide a flight greater than Mach 3 in a short period of time in a certain airspace, breaking through the detection and interception of most current four-generation air defense systems. By then, the air control capability of a sixth-generation aircraft will be 16 to 22 times that of the fifth-generation aircraft.
military experts pointed out that because Europe, Russia, and Japan are still developing fifth-generation military aircraft engines, the development progress of the XA-100 engine and XA-101 as the special engines of the sixth-generation fighter aircraft has been ahead of other countries for at least 25 years. In the field of adaptive engine technology, the gap between the countries of the world and the US military is widening, not narrowing. Military experts pointed out that on the basis of nearly 10 years of research on variable-cycle engines, the US Air Force Research Laboratory has recently launched an ADAPT project program dedicated to the sixth-generation aircraft. ADAPT introduces a three-ducted structure and meets the demand for cooling air, so that the fighter can switch between long-range cruise mission mode and high-speed combat mode, and ensures that the power requirements of high-power systems such as directed energy and other weapon systems are met. The practical results of XA-100 engine and XA-101 engine. Z2z
Lieutenant General Sam Angela said that in order to meet the many demanding requirements of the U.S. Air Force's next-generation fighter jets, the XA-100 adopts a three-external culvert adaptive variable cycle turbofan engine solution: the engine can adapt to single external culverts and dual external culverts. , Three external culvert mode to greatly change the intake air flow. According to preliminary calculations, in addition to the 10% increase in thrust, its fuel efficiency has also increased by 25%, and its maximum combat range has increased by nearly one-third, which has fully met or even exceeded the US military's next-generation engine bidding requirements. Sam Angela believes that the new XA-100 three external culvert adaptive variable circulation system has brought a leap in aero engine technology. Because the engine adopts adaptive variable circulation technology to change the intake air flow, it can better meet different flight conditions. Under the need.
he even emphasized that the new jet engine adds a third external airflow to wrap it around the engine, thereby providing additional cooling to further enhance stealth performance. Lieutenant General Angela said, "Stealth aircraft are like a thermos, so they don't emit heat. The third airflow helps the heat management of the entire aircraft. It is a radiator for weapons and other systems. "The engine also showcases another innovation of GE General Electric: advanced ceramic matrix composite technology. GE General Electric is by far the most successful engine company in the application of SiCf/SiC ceramic matrix composites, not only achieving high performance The rapid and low-cost preparation of SiCf/SiC ceramic matrix composites has been carried out after more than 10 years of "silicon carbide fiber research and development-composite process" multiple iterations, and "material level-component level-component level-component level-complete machine "The building-block verification process has accumulated more than one million hours of test run time. Z2z
has been promoted and applied to various new engine models such as commercial engines, gas turbines and next-generation military turbofan/turboshaft engines developed by the company. Since 2016, GE General Electric has establishedIt has 4 factories covering the whole process of "silicon carbide fiber-prepreg-structural parts", and the output is expected to reach more than 20,000 pieces per year. The investment of large-scale plant and manpower indicates that the material and technology are fully mature. Lieutenant General Angela said proudly, “Ceramic-based composite material technology has changed the long-standing stagnation of engine hot-end design. Because it can withstand temperatures hundreds of degrees higher than conventional high-temperature metal alloys, there is no need for traditional and higher The hot-end turbine components of the aero engine under temperature are cooled to achieve higher flight and combat performance.” The former fighter pilot said that this is “the next generation fighter engine model: engine thrust increased by a full 10%.”
It is precisely because GE General Electric has established a huge advantage in SiCf/SiC ceramic matrix composites, it is in an extremely advantageous position in the next-generation fighter engine competition, and therefore has the exclusive support of the US military. And its only competitor: Pratt & Whitney, the biggest winner of the previous generation of military fighter engines, had to raise its own funds because of its miscalculation of the maturity and application time of ceramic-based high-temperature composites and no military funding. The funded development of XA101 competes with GE's XA100. It is reported that Pratt & Whitney is also aware of early decision-making mistakes and is currently vigorously increasing its investment in this area. In the future, it will also introduce ultra-high temperature CMC ceramic matrix composite technology and apply it to the XA101 prototype developed by the company.
