Rivals Join For Next Stage Of PAK FA Engine

Aviation Week and Space Technology ^ | 4/28/2010 | Maxim Pyadushkin

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Russia’s two engine manufacturers are to collaborate on the next stage of engine development for the Sukhoi T-50 fifth-generation fighter after years of going head-to-head as rivals.

The Moscow-based Salut and United Engine Corp. (UEC) have agreed to work jointly on the so-called second-stage engine for the T-50 being developed to meet the air force’s PAK FA requirement. NPO Saturn, now part of UEC, and Salut have been competing for this program for several years, with designs known as Eniseysk-A and Eniseysk-B, respectively.

According to senior UEC executives, the workshare on the engine to replace the T-50’s current Saturn 117 will slightly favor the corporation: UEC will have 54%, and Salut the remainder.

The decision to collaborate is driven at least in part by the likely merger of the two engine producers.

The timescale for development of the powerplant remains uncertain, as the manufacturers apparently are waiting for the military to set its requirements. In March, however, Sukhoi chief Mikhail Pogosyan said the T-50 would enter service with the air force powered by the Saturn 117. He indicated development of the second-stage engine could take another decade.

The 117 was developed by Rybinsk-based Saturn as an uprated modification of the Al-31F engine. The 29,000-lb.-thrust 117 is used on the Su-35 derivative of the Su-27 Flanker. The version fitted to the T-50 prototypes is thought to produce 30,000 lb. thrust and also comes with a new full-authority digital engine control unit.

Salut’s Eniseysk-B design was recommended by the ministry’s tender commission, according to CEO Yuri Eliseev. Under the original program schedule, the two contenders were to have demonstrated the first elements of the engine by November 2008.

[uncommonsense]

"The timescale for development of the powerplant remains uncertain, as the manufacturers apparently are waiting for the military to set its requirements. In March, however, Sukhoi chief Mikhail Pogosyan said the T-50 would enter service with the air force powered by the Saturn 117. He indicated development of the second-stage engine could take another decade."

A lot can happen in a decade [or not]