Summary Pratt & Whitney F119: World's first 5th-gen fighter engine, powers F-22 & F-35, top-tier tech. Snecma M88: High-efficiency engine powers Rafale jet, global export success. Rolls-Royce LiftSystem: Unique STOVL tech in F-35B for vertical takeoff.
World War II was a time of revolution for aircraft engines - especially jet engines . The German Junkers Jumo 004 was the world's first production turbojet engine in operational use. Soon after, the British Nene was reverse-engineered by the Soviets post-war to develop the Klimov RD-45 and Kilmov VK-1 (which were used in the MiG-15).
Jet engines continued to develop through the Cold War and to the present. Today, not only do GE, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls-Royce dominate the commercial passenger jet engine market , but they also dominate the fighter jet market. Here are five revolutionary military jet engines in use today.
1 Pratt & Whitney F119 The PW F119 was the world's first 5th-generation fighter jet engine First run: 1993 (ground tests) Thrust: 35,000 lbf (43,000 lbf for F135) Applications: F-22 Raptor, F-35 Lightning II The F-22 Raptor is regarded as the world's most formidable air superiority fighter jet. It is powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney F-119 engines that provide the jet with supercruise capability. The F119-PW-100 turbofan is the first operational 5th-generation fighter jet engine and is built to combine stealth technologies and vectored thrust with high thrust-two-weight performance.
The F119 is a leap in fi.