The General Electric F404 and F412 are a family of afterburning

turbofan The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...

engines in the class (static thrust). The series is produced by

GE Aviation GE Aviation, a subsidiary of General Electric, is headquartered in Evendale, Ohio, outside Cincinnati. GE Aviation is among the top aircraft engine suppliers, and offers engines for the majority of commercial aircraft. GE Aviation is part of t ...

. Partners include

Volvo Aero Volvo Aero was a Swedish aircraft, guided missiles and rocket engine manufacturer. It became ''GKN Aerospace Engine Systems'' following the company's acquisition by British engineering conglomerate GKN during 2012. It was originally establi ...

, which builds the RM12 variant. The F404 was developed into the larger F414 turbofan, as well as the experimental GE36 civil propfan.

Design and development

F404

GE developed the F404 for the

F/A-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twin-engine, supersonic, carrier-capable, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft (hence the F/A designation). Designed by McDonnell Douglas (now pa ...

, shortly after losing the competition for the

F-15 Eagle The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American Twinjet, twin-engine, all-weather Air combat manoeuvring#Tactics, tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States ...

's engine to

Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies. Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially airlines) and military av ...

, and losing the

Lightweight Fighter The Lightweight Fighter (LWF) program was a United States Air Force technology evaluation program initiated in the late 1960s by a group of officers and defense analysts known as the " Fighter Mafia". It was spurred by then-Major John Boyd's ' ...

(LWF) competition to the

Pratt & Whitney F100 The Pratt & Whitney F100 (company designation JTF22) is an afterburning turbofan engine manufactured by Pratt & Whitney that powers the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon. Development In 1967, the United States Navy and United States Air Forc ...

powered YF-16. For the F/A-18, GE based the F404 on the YJ101 engine they had developed for the

Northrop YF-17 The Northrop YF-17 (nicknamed "Cobra") is a prototype lightweight fighter aircraft designed by Northrop Corporation, Northrop aviation for the United States Air Force's Lightweight Fighter (LWF) technology evaluation program. The LWF was initia ...

, enlarging the bypass ratio from .20 to .34 to enable higher fuel economy. The engine was designed with a higher priority on reliability than performance. Cost was the main goal in the design of the engine. GE also analyzed "throttle profiles" and found that pilots were changing throttle settings far more often than engineers previously expected; putting undue stress on the engines. GE also sought with the F404 a design that would avoid compressor stalls and other engine failures, and would respond quickly to control inputs; a common complaint of pilots converting from propeller planes to jets was that early turbojets were not responsive to changes in thrust input. GE executives Frederick A. Larson and Paul Setts also set the goal that the new engine would be smaller than the F-4's GE J79, but provide at least as much thrust, and cost half as much as the P&W F100 engine for the F-16. Due to a fan designed to smooth airflow before it enters the compressor, the F404 has high resistance to

compressor stall A compressor stall is a local disruption of the airflow in the compressor of a gas turbine or turbocharger. A stall that results in the complete disruption of the airflow through the compressor is referred to as a compressor surge. The severity of ...

s, even at high angles of attack. It requires less than two shop visits per 1,000 flight hours and averages 6,500 hours between in-flight events. It also demonstrates high responsiveness to control inputs, spooling from idle to full afterburner in 4 seconds. The engine contains an in-flight engine condition monitoring system (IECMS) that monitors for critical malfunctions and keeps track of parts lifetimes.Jenkins 2000, p. 144. GE developed the F110 for the Air Force as an alternative to the

for use on the F-16 and F-15 based on the F101 and used F404 technology. GE developed the F404-GE-402 in response to a Swiss requirement for more power in its F/A-18 version. The new engine version was used on Kuwaiti Hornets, later U.S. C and D Hornets, and subsequent Hornets.Jenkins 2000, pp. 62,-63 93, 97. The KAI T-50 Golden Eagle uses a single General Electric F404-102 turbofan engine with

Full Authority Digital Engine Control A full authority digital engine (or electronics) control (FADEC) is a system consisting of a digital computer, called an "electronic engine controller" (EEC) or "engine control unit" (ECU), and its related accessories that control all aspects of ai ...

(FADEC) system. The engine consists of three-staged fans, seven axial stage arrangement, and an afterburner. The aircraft has a maximum speed of Mach 1.5. Its engine produces a maximum of 17,700 lbf (78.7 kN) of thrust with afterburner. Almost 4,000 F404 engines power the F/A-18 Hornets in service worldwide. The F404 engine family had totaled over 12 million flight hours by 2010. For

HAL Tejas The HAL Tejas is an Indian, single engine, delta wing, light multirole fighter designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for ...

, GE developed an uprated F404-IN20, which is the highest thrust variant in F404 family, and which produces a maximum of 19,000 lbf (84 kN) of thrust with afterburner. It incorporates latest hot section materials and technologies as well as FADEC system for reliable power and performance. On 17 August 2021, India signed a contract with GE worth to supply 99 F404 engine and service support by 2029.

F412

GE developed the F404 into the F412-GE-400 non-afterburning turbofan for the

McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger II The McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics A-12 Avenger II was a proposed American attack aircraft from McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics. It was to be an all-weather, carrier-based stealth bomber replacement for the Grumman A-6 Intruder in t ...

. After the cancellation of the A-12, the research was directed toward an engine for the Super Hornet, which evolved into the F414.

Applications

;F404 *

Boeing Phantom Ray The Boeing Phantom Ray is an American demonstration stealth unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) developed by Boeing using company funds. The autonomous Phantom Ray is a flying wing around the size of a conventional fighter jet, and first flew in ...

Boeing T-7 Red Hawk The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...

* Boeing X-45C * FMA SAIA 90 (as designed, not built) * Dassault Rafale A (prototype only) * Grumman A-6F Intruder II * Grumman X-29 * HAL Tejas Mk 1/1A *

Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a retired American single-seat, twin-engine stealth attack aircraft developed by Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works division and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). It was the first operational aircr ...

* KAI T-50 Golden Eagle *

McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twinjet, twin-engine, supersonic aircraft, supersonic, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, ...

(A-D) *

Northrop F-20 Tigershark The Northrop F-20 Tigershark (initially F-5G) is a light fighter, designed and built by Northrop. Its development began in 1975 as a further evolution of Northrop's F-5E Tiger II, featuring a new engine that greatly improved overall performa ...

* Northrop Grumman Model 400 * Rockwell-MBB X-31 * ST Aerospace A-4SU Super Skyhawk *

TAI Hürjet The TAI Hürjet is a single-engine, tandem seat, supersonic advanced trainer and light combat aircraft, under development by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). The first flight of the aircraft is planned for 18 March 2023. The Turkish Air F ...

;F412 *

(as designed, not built)

Specifications (F404-GE-402)

References

* Jenkins, Dennis R. ''F/A-18 Hornet: A Navy Success Story''. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000. .

External links

GE Aviation F404 page

{{US military gas turbine aeroengines Low-bypass turbofan engines F404 1970s turbofan engines