Air Force testers completed the longest single test of a jet engine in the history of the Arnold Engineering Development Complex in Tennessee, according to a release. They conducted accelerated mission testing of the B-1 bomber’s F101-GE-102 engine over the course of 11 months, running the engine for more than 2,145 hours and completing 1,504 missions, states the complex’s Nov. 21 release. “The test ran 24-hour operations, four to six days per week,” said Mike Dent, lead engineer for AEDC’s Aeropropulsion Test Branch. The testing validated the B-1 engine core’s life out to 4,000 cycles, simulating the most demanding, repetitive phases of the engine’s operation in a variety of conditions. The accelerated testing equated to “about 10 years or approximately 4,700 flight hours of actual engine usage,” said Dent.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
