Rolls-Royce Opens First F-35 Lift Fan Repair Centre
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The $10 million LiftWorks repair facility in Plainfield will serve as an interim logistics hub for F-35Bs operated by the US Marine Corps and the UK. The site could eventually be augmented or replaced by the US government depot system or separate repair and overhaul facilities in the UK or Italy, should either of those governments decide to invest in that capability, says Tom Hartmann, senior vice-president of R-R.
The Plainfield facility sits “a few doors down” from R-R’s LiftFan final assembly centre in Indianapolis, he adds, where the company has transitioned most major production work from a UK facility in Bristol.
Meanwhile, R-R is reviewing more than 150 other changes with the F-35 joint programme office that could potentially lower the price of the LiftFan system. The company declines to provide current cost figures.
The LiftFan system enables the F-35B to get airborne within a 244m (800ft) take-off roll, and to land vertically. It consists of the lift fan itself, roll posts along each wing and the 3D swivel bearing nozzle. It is connected by a shaft to the Pratt & Whitney F135-600, the short take-off and vertical landing variant of the F-35 propulsion system.
