Air Power: Propulsion - Engine builders eye the sustainment market | ADM
Gregor Ferguson
It's a curious feature of Australia's military aerospace market that although the RAAF is an important customer for high-technology platforms and propulsion systems, the engine builders themselves don't have a significant physical presence in-country.
For the most part they are happy to work with proven, trusted industry partners who deliver deep maintenance and other sustainment services on their behalf.
One of the most important in-country players is Amberley-based Tasman Aviation Enterprises (TAE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Air New Zealand, which recently expanded its engine and accessory overhaul and engineering capabilities with the purchase of Adelaide-based Tenix Aviation, now re-badged as TAE Aviation, and Cootamundra, NSW-based Masling Industries.
The company is Australia's leading military gas turbine Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) contractor and one of the key players in Defence's recently-announced contract to provide all the in-country support for the General Electric F-404 and F-414 turbofans engines powering the RAAF's F/A-18 Hornets and Super Hornets.
The 12-year contract was awarded to General Electric International Incorporated (GEII), who will be supported by TAE at Amberley and Williamtown and Goodrich Control Systems Australia in Sydney.
Until the award of this contract F-404s were maintained by Air New Zealand in Auckland; TAE had a small team at Williamtown responsible for removal, tear-down and re-installation.
This team will continue to perform this task while the new contract means that F-404s from Williamtown will go to Amberley for overhaul alongside the F-414s from the Amberley-based Super Hornets, reaping a saving of around $20 million, according to defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon.
Recent expansion
The purchase of Tenix Aviaton and Masling has brought TAE's workforce to nearly 300, according to Dave Balassa, sales manager - airline accounts; the company handles both defence and civil work across a range of engine types, including variants of the Pratt &Whitney Canada PT-6 and Honeywell TPE331 turboprop engines, as well as propellers.
It is also an Authorised Maintenance and Engineering Organisation (AEO and AMO) for Defence and is currently the engineering authority as well as the Through Life Support contractor for the Pratt &Whitney TF-30s on the F-111.
This aircraft is due to retire next year, so securing the Hornet and Super Hornet engine work has provided welcome continuity for the firm.
While it is consolidating its recent purchases and settling its new F-404/414 work, TAE is also looking to future opportunities.
These could include support for established engines such as the T-56 turboprops powering the RAAF's C-130H Hercules and AP-3C Orions; but the big opportunity will be in-country support for the Pratt & Whitney F-135 engine powering the new F-35A Lightning 2 Joint Strike Fighter, for which Pratt & Whitney will start engaging local firms over the next two years or so.
P&W lines up for JSF support
Pratt & Whitney is already studying the support environment for the F-135 engine, according to vice president Bill Gostic.
He told ADM last month the company is undertaking an initial Supportability Assessment which should be completed by the time the Avalon air show gets under way.
Much depends, he said, on the level of in-country support the RAAF requires for its F-135s, which are due to enter service in 2014-15; at the Operational level this consists of routine maintenance "on-wing" or "in the shadow" of the aircraft.
Much more demanding is depot-level maintenance, for which requirements will vary from country to country, he said.
This requires the highest degree of collaboration and partnering between the engine manufacturer and its chosen partner(s) in-country.
Pratt & Whitney doesn't have a huge local presence, Gostic acknowledged, but points out the company has a long and successful history of working with local contractors (such as TAE) to support the TF-30 engines for the F-111 as well as other power plants.
It has held discussions with a number of potential Australian partners regarding in-service support for the F-135, but hasn't reached a point where it needs to select one.
The lead time to establish an extensive local support network is about two years so, given the current F-35A delivery schedule, Pratt &Whiney expects to start seeking partners and planning its local presence in detail from about 2010, Gostic said.
Under its System Development and Demonstration (SDD) contract Pratt & Whitney is developing a Performance Based Logistics (PBL) system for the F-135 that is analogous to Lockheed Martin's Autonomic Logistic Global Sustainment (ALGS) system.
The two companies are staying in close touch to collect and refine engine performance and reliability data and ensure their respective data sets are compatible from both the companies' and the customers' points of view.
The first production F-135 engine will be delivered in July this year with deliveries building to two a month next year and ramping up rapidly thereafter.
Importantly, by the end of 2009 there should be no less than 18 flight test engines at Lockheed Martin's Ft Worth facility.
The company has delivered 11 engines so far and the two aircraft currently in the flight test program, AA-1 and BF-1, have flown over 100 hours between them.
That doesn't sound like a lot so far, but the program is about to grow exponentially: by the end of this year there should be 11 aircraft in the flight test program.
Importantly, the F-35B STOVL flight test program was due to pass an important milestone late last month: the first STOVL variant, BF-1, was due to commence hover pit testing, and then start STOVL transition work from forward flight to low-speed semi-jet-borne flight at Ft Worth.
In May this year BF-1 will relocated to the US Navy fight test centre at Patuxent River to open up the STOVL flight envelope and include Vertical Landings.
This part of the flight test program was delayed following a 3rd stage turbine blade failure in a ground test engine in 2007.
Although the F-135 is based heavily on the F-22's proven F-119 engine, the 3rd turbine stage is unique to the F-135 and associated closely with the STOVL lift fan, so STOVL flight testing couldn't begin until the root cause of the blade failure had been identified and corrected and the fix verified.
Meanwhile, the ground test program continues with 11,000 hours completed since 2002 from a planned total of 14,000 hours.
The first phase of ground testing enabled initial flight clearance for the F-35A and C models, and then for the STOVL F-35B variant; Final Initial Service Release qualification is due for the F-35A and -C in September this year, Gostic told ADM; this will be completed for the F-35C in June 2010.
Rolls-Royce: supporting the installed base
All three major engine manufacturers - Pratt &Whitney, General Electric and Rolls-Royce - have a strong presence in Australasia, but the biggest of these is Rolls-Royce, with an installed base in the Australian and New Zealand Defence Forces of around 600 engines, the majority of which (ADM estimates around 500) are in Australia.
The company won't disclose numbers, nor details of the revenue derived from supporting these engines, but it is substantial.
Rolls-Royce, either directly or with partners such as Turbomeca, powers the Hawk 127, C-130 Hercules, AP-3C and P-3K Orion, A330-200 MRTT, Boeing 757 strategic transport, and the Kiowa, Sea King, Tiger ARH and NH90/MRH90 helicopters.
If it converts all of its serious local prospects over the next few years into further sales, that will see another 250 or so engines enter service, albeit in some cases powering replacements for older Rolls-Royce powered platforms which are close to retirement.
That makes Australia its biggest military customer in the region by a comfortable margin, comparable almost with India.
For all that, however, the company has a relatively small footprint in Australasia.
It posts Field Service Representatives (FSR) in-country to support specific products, but provides much of its in-depth technical support either directly from Bristol in England, or Indianapolis.
Hands-on MRO activities are handled for the most part by local partners and contractors such as Turbomeca (see p.xx) for the MTR390 and RTM322, Qantas Defence Services for the Adour, and Standard Aero for the T-56 and AE2100.
There are a couple of reasons for this, according to Eion Bailey, senior vice president for the Pacific Rim and India: firstly, to maintain self-reliance and support local industry development many customers require Rolls-Royce (or its competitors) to help develop an indigenous industry capability.
Secondly, where a customer has a close and trusting relationship with an appropriately qualified local provider it makes sense to try and build a relationship with him; and thirdly, it makes no sense to replicate existing skills and capabilities.
The company doesn't have a set formula - it responds to customer needs on a case by case basis, says Bailey.
For example, Qantas Defence Systems supports the Adour Mk871 engine powering the RAAF's Hawk 127s.
Although the Adour is a joint Rolls-Royce Turbomeca product, Turbomeca Australia didn't exist at the time the Hawk was ordered so Rolls-Royce developed the best local support solution available and the customer remains happy with this arrangement.
The Adour is supported on what amounts to a full-blown "MissionCare" basis.
This total support concept derives from the "Mission-Ready Management Solutions" model which Rolls-Royce adapted from its civil airline and corporate customer support system.
MissionCare is designed to provide a wide range of support options and mechanisms, and simpler contracting.
While the hands-on work may (and almost certainly will) be carried out by local partners or sub-contractors in-country, with an FSR or Product Support team providing advice and assistance, Rolls-Royce has established a new 24/7 Operations Centre at Bristol to support global customers.
This incorporates engineering and product support specialists and operates 365 days a year to provide near real-time technical advice and support if a problem is beyond the capacity of the local FSR or support contractor.
This could include things like live, online analysis of engine borescope inspections and the like.
A similar centre at Indianapolis provides OEM support for legacy Allison and new Rolls-Royce products.
Future work
The concept is being introduced to support Rolls-Royce's current and legacy engine fleet and will be part of the offering for future platform and engine sales.
While the company was reluctant to make loose projections while awaiting publication of its annual financial results, its major prospects here are obvious: it is developing the F-136 engine with General Electric for the Joint Strike Fighter (the first production-configuration engine started bench testing at the end of January); and potential sales of both the C-130J Hercules and C-27J Spartan would see more Rolls-Royce engines come into service here. Similarly, if the RAN were to order the NFH90 to replace its ageing Seahawks this would see more RTM322s come into service.
This is all consistent with Rolls-Royce's stated intention of deriving up to 50 per cent of its revenue from global sustainment and in-service support of its engines.
The company is well placed to pursue this gal because it has a unique portfolio of turbofan, turboprop and turboshaft power plants covering almost every military sector from fast jets to transports, trainers and light and medium helicopters.
But sustainment revenue depends in the first instance on engine sales and to a considerable extent in the military market this is an area dominated by the platform manufacturer.
Except where competing engines are available for the same aircraft (as was the case with the F-16 and F-15 fighters, for example, and will be again on the F-35) engine sales depend on platform sales.
The first step is to get your engine selected by the platform builder, according to Eion Bailey, which requires a deep understanding of both airframer and operator needs; then the engine builder needs to help the airframer understand the operator's requirements and help him present the advantages of the platform/engine combination in the most effective way.
Large contests of this type are growing less and less frequent; and big, single-company engine development programs are also becoming less and less common.
Most of Rolls-Royce's recent European military engine programs, such as the Adour, TP400, EJ200, RB199, RTM322, MTR390 have been collaborative or joint ventures and it's hard to see future opportunities for major single-company new engine programs, even supposing a single company had the resources for such a thing.
Where the choice of engine for a specific platform rests with the customer (as it usually does in the airline market) the engine builders compete head to head and factors such as reliability, availability and in-service support are key determinants.
Concepts such as MissionCare become part of the sales offering and depend utterly on the track record of the company and its products.