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Tinker takes on Marines' challenge: F135 engine

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  • By John Parker
  • Tinker PUblic Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  The first depot-level engine maintenance line for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter began production at Tinker last week with high-priority work for the Marine Corps.

The F-35 Lightning II is a next-generation, single-engine fighter slated to become the workhorse of the Air Force, Navy and Marines in the coming decades. The United States plans to buy more than 2,400 of the stealthy aircraft, along with the United Kingdom, Turkey, Australia and other allies.

W. Earl D'Alessandro, a program manager for the F-35/F135 Joint Strike Fighter depot activation at Tinker Air Force Base, said the work is a milestone, especially because the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex is still in the process of building full depot maintenance capability for the F135 engine that powers the F-35.

Tinker was selected as the first maintenance, repair and overhaul depot for the multinational fighter. F135 engine maker Pratt & Whitney is a partner on the project.
"For now and the foreseeable future, Tinker will be the place supporting the entire JSF propulsion program at the depot level," Mr. D'Alessandro said. "We'll be doing Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps engines. We will be the centerpiece that supports all three services."

Lockheed Martin Corp. has delivered more than 100 F-35s, including 45 to the Air Force. So far the planes are used for testing and training and are not necessarily equipped to reach their designed top speed, altitude and other "flight envelope" capabilities.
The U.S. Marine Corps, however, wants to change that - and they're relying heavily on Tinker to get there.

Last year, the Marine Corps announced the goal of being the first service to deploy the Lightning II for active duty, aka "initial operating capability," by July 2015. The Marine Corps version is called the F-35B, which can take off like a helicopter and fly at supersonic speeds.

Under Brig. Gen. Gene Kirkland, OC-ALC commander, Team Tinker has been training for and building the F135 engine depot since 2012 in Bldg. 3001's heavy maintenance center.

Last fall, the Marine Corps and Pentagon officials asked Tinker officials if they could add - and expedite - work on 10 Marine Corps F135 engines, according to Mr. D'Alessandro and co-Program Manager Stacy Williams, both with the OC-ALC Business Development Office.

The F-35 powerplants need to be modified with updated engineering solutions and retrofitted to make them fully mission-capable for the Marines by their deadline.

"Our piece of it basically takes the engine they have now, we do some retrofits, or mods, to that engine, and then when they put it back in the airplane, it gives the airplane its full flight envelope," Mr. D'Alessandro said.

Mr. D'Alessandro said of the deadline: "That is our brick wall, and we're running at it full speed right now. This was something that was not planned. A year and a half ago, we didn't know about it."

Accepting the Marine Corps challenge took a huge effort from multiple Tinker groups, Mr. D'Alessandro said.

The 76th Propulsion Maintenance Group had to ask the 76th Maintenance Support Group if they could drop other important projects to build a new F135 engine "speed line" complete with electrical wiring, overhead 5-ton hoists and steel girding to hold them.
The new line occupies part of 33,000 square feet dedicated so far to the F135 depot.
"They stepped up and did a phenomenal job," Mr. D'Alessandro said. "They started late and finished on time. They actually finished a little bit early in some areas."

The 76th PMXG also drew upon Tinker mechanics, plus experts and mechanics from Pratt & Whitney, to readjust for work on the F135 engines.

"We've got some of the best mechanics that PMXG and the complex have working this project," Mr. D'Alessandro said. "So I don't worry about capability at all with the people."
The Tinker depot will synchronize its engine work with the Naval Fleet Readiness Center East in Cherry Point, N.C. Depot operations there are upgrading F-35 airframes for the July 2015 deadline.

"We are a big piece of an even bigger process that's going on," Mr. D'Alessandro said. "While that airplane is moving through their mod line, they're counting on us to have that engine done by the time it gets near the end and they can put the engine back in and do flight tests."

"This is one of the largest workloads coming to Tinker," he said. "If current forecasts hold true, we're going to need 120,000 square feet of engine shop by 2020."