General Electric Company, The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has certified GE's CF6-80C2 engine for the U.S. Air Force (USAF) C-5 Galaxy modernization program. The certification follows eight months of ground-testing of the engine to validate engine-aircraft integration and the new FADEC III control system. The FADEC III control system has been certified on the GE90-115B and CFM56-7 engines.
Later this month, GE will deliver the first CF6-80C2 engine to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company for flight-testing on the four-engine C-5 Galaxy aircraft. Flight tests are scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2005.
The certification and flight tests are part of the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase of the USAF C-5 Galaxy Reliability and Enhancement and Re-engining Program (RERP), a comprehensive modernization plan to reduce the C-5 operating costs, meet future heavy airlift requirements and extend the aircraft life to 2040 and beyond. In 2002, Lockheed Martin awarded GE a $126 million contract to provide CF6-80C2 propulsion systems for the SDD phase. The propulsion system includes the CF6-80C2 engine, thrust reverser and nacelle.
Following a successful SDD phase, the production phase could call for upwards of 500 CF6-80C2 propulsion systems, plus service support, at a potential value of $2.6 billion to GE over the life of the multi-year program.
GE's CF6-80C2 turbofan, the best-selling commercial engine in its thrust class, with more than 100 million flight-hours logged on 10 different commercial applications, is assuming an increasingly prominent role in military aviation. Multimillion-dollar orders have already been placed for CF6-80C2 engines for a wide variety of military applications, including the USAF's new Boeing airborne laser (ABL) aircraft–the YAL-1A Attack Laser, the Japan Defense Agency's C-X military cargo aircraft and the Italian Air Force's Boeing KC-767 tanker transport aircraft.
GE Transportation – Aircraft Engines, a part of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), is one of the world's leading manufacturers of jet engines for civil and military aircraft.
