Lockheed Martin eyes computer simulation and analysis to help prevent ship deck damage from jet engine heat
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – U.S. Navy combat aircraft experts are investigating if computer simulation and test data analysis are enough to certify that the Navy's most advanced jump jet can operate from the decks of amphibious assault ships without causing ship damage.
Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced plans last Thursday to ask Lockheed Martin Corp. -- the F-35B manufacturer -- to determine if the F-35B can operate safely from the future landing helicopter assault (LHA) ship USS Bougainville (LHA 8) without causing deck damage.
Jet engine heat
The single-engine F-35B joint strike fighter can land and take off from Navy amphibious assault ships, which do not have aircraft catapults, with vertical takeoff and landing capability. These kinds of jets can take off and land straight up and down, similar to the way helicopters operate.
The problem is the intense heat that the F-35B engine generates when it operates in vertical takeoff and landing mode. Engine heat can warp or even melt the decks of amphibious assault ships. Engine heart from the Navy MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft also has caused problems aboard amphibious assault ships.
This can lead to potential structural concerns if not properly maintained, and this issue requires careful management when operating F-35Bs on these vessels. The USS Bougainville, an America-class amphibious assault ship, is under construction and not yet commissioned to the fleet.
Conventional tests to certify the F-35B and other vertical takeoff and landing aircraft can operate safely from America-class amphibious assault ships can be time consuming, expensive, and require severe-environment testing that could damage the vessels.
Expedited flight testing
Instead, Navy experts are trying to reduce the flight-testing requirements for certifying F-35B operations on the Bougainville by capitalizing on advanced piloted simulation techniques and historical flight test data from similar ship classes.
Relatively new amphibious assault ships like the Bougainville often are designed with modifications to accommodate the heat generated by F-35Bs, including improved deck materials and heat dispersal systems. Lockheed Martin will help determine if the ship can be certified for F-35B operations solely using computer simulation and analysis.
Related: Heat From F-35, MV-22 Continue to Plague Big Deck Amphibs
Lockheed Martin is considered to be the only responsible source to conduct these kinds of computer simulation and analysis tests, so the Navy will not undertake this job competitively. More information is online at https://sam.gov/opp/1d5b61905b934c4b98977d0bf99035ba/view.
An upcoming contract to Lockheed Martin to carry out this job has yet to be negotiated. For more information contact Lockheed Martin Aeronautics online at www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/business-areas/aeronautics.html, or Naval Air Systems Command at https://www.navair.navy.mil.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
