The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), for the first time, designed, assembled, and tested exclusively in-house a small thrust class size expendable turbine engine.
This propulsion system, the Responsive Open Source Engine (ROSE), responds to the U.S. Air Force”s (USAF”s) desire for rapid demonstration of new technologies and faster, less expensive prototypes, according to a service statement. Greg Bloch, aerospace systems directorate turbine engine division chief engineer, told Jane”s on 19 November that it took 6 to 8 months to develop this engine. An AFRL statement said the entire effort, from concept initiation to testing, happened within 13 months.
The AFRL hopes to lower the engine cost to approximately a quarter of the cheapest current alternative. It believes this will enable a new class of air vehicle to capitalize on this less-expensive engine.
Frank Lieghley, aerospace systems directorate turbine engine division senior aerospace engineer and product manager, said in an AFRL statement that the laboratory decided the best way to make a low-cost, expendable engine was to separate the development costs from procurement costs. This is because the USAF owns the ROSE”s intellectual property (IP) rights because its design and development were conducted in-house.