록히드 마틴, 새로운 F-35 냉각시스템 결정에 2년이 걸릴 것

[위종민]

록히드 마틴의 F-35 프로그램 부사장 천시 매킨토시가 새로운 라이트닝II의 냉각시스템 결정엔 2년 가량 걸릴 것이라고 AFA Warfare Symposium의 번외 인터뷰에서 밝혔네요. 현재 콜린스와 하니웰이 냉각시스템을 두고 경쟁중이며, 현장 도입 예상 일시는 2032년입니다. 

현재 F-35의 냉각 시스템을 공급하는 하니웰은 PTMS( Power and Thermal Management System )를 제안했으며, 콜린스가 EPACS ( Enhanced Power and Cooling System )로 이에 도전중입니다. 양사 모두 80kW 냉각 요구사항을 충족했다고 주장중입니다. 

Lockheed eyes two-year timeline to pick new F-35 cooling system - Breaking Defense

Lockheed eyes two-year timeline to pick new F-35 cooling system - Breaking Defense

Lockheed eyes two-year timeline to pick new F-35 cooling systemThe company is examining “all offers that’re out on the market today to make that decision, so it’s not going to be a quick choice,” Lockheed’s F-35 program manager Chauncey McIntosh told Breaking Defense.

By   Michael Marrowon March 10, 2025 at 1:54 PM

A US Air Force F-35A Lightning II assigned to the F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team performs a practice aerial demonstration prior to the Warriors Over the Wasatch Air Show at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on June 28, 2024. (US Air Force photo by First Lieutenant Nathan Poblete)

AFA WARFARE 2025 — Selecting a highly-anticipated upgrade for the F-35’s incumbent cooling system may take as long as two years to play out as manufacturer Lockheed Martin weighs options from Collins Aerospace and Honeywell, according to the company’s program manager.

“There’s a few folks that have already presented some options to us now. That’s going to take us, I think, about the next 24 months or so to really go through those options,” Chauncey McIntosh, Lockheed’s vice president for the F-35 program, told Breaking Defense Monday in an interview on the sidelines of the AFA Warfare Symposium.

Lockheed is examining “all offerings that are out on the market today to make that decision and go through [them]. So it’s not going to be a quick choice, it’s going to be one that’s driven by data” that ensures the company is “getting the right thing” to support future needs, McIntosh added. “So that’s kind of the time frame that I think we’re on, but as we go through, that could either accelerate or decelerate,” based on what the company learns. 

Collins and Honeywell are so far the only companies to have publicly thrown their hat in the ring for a new cooling system. Lockheed will run the competition, Breaking Defense previously reported, setting up a lucrative opportunity for an eventual winner that would provide parts to retrofit likely a bulk of the roughly 1,000 F-35s currently in service and manufacture the system for future aircraft.

Officials say a new cooling system, formally known as the Power and Thermal Management Unit (PTMU), is needed to support forthcoming upgrades that are expected to make the jet run even hotter than it does now. In the near term, an enhancement to the stealth fighter’s Pratt & Whitney F135 engine is expected to enable a suite of upgrades known as Block 4. Beyond Block 4, a new cooling system will be needed to work in tandem with the engine upgrade, the F-35 Joint Program Office has previously said.

Regardless of how a competition for the new cooling system proceeds, time is of the essence. A previous request for information from the JPO said the government expects a new cooling system solution should be ready to field in roughly the 2032 timeframe. According to a May 2024 Government Accountability Office report [PDF], the F-35 program could start delivering post-Block 4 upgrades as soon as 2029. That timeline, the watchdog found, means that “if the thermal management system upgrades come after 2029, post-Block 4 capabilities will also be delayed.”

Remarking on the need to keep various requirements in sync, McIntosh said, “We’re gonna let the data drive us while knowing we’re on a timeline to insert that engine along with the PTMU out in the future.” 

Honeywell supplies the incumbent cooling apparatus, known as the Power and Thermal Management System (PTMS), which is responsible for other critical tasks like providing emergency electrical power — and is offering an upgrade to the existing design. Collins, a subsidiary of RTX, is looking to unseat Honeywell by introducing a new offering dubbed the Enhanced Power and Cooling System (EPACS). 

Both Honeywell and Collins say their candidates meet an objective set out by the JPO: a capacity for 80 kilowatts of cooling. Honeywell touts its approach, which the company’s Defense and Space President Matt Milas shared with Breaking Defense following the results of digital modeling, as less risky, due to the fact that it retains much of the PTMS’s current “footprint” with largely mature technologies.

Collins, on the other hand, is pitching the EPACS as an alternative solution to meet the F-35’s needs, which the system’s chief engineer Matt Pess recently told Breaking Defense is being developed with the goal of “leav[ing] as much margin in the system and as much flexibility in the system as possible.” Breaking Defense also toured the company’s facility and viewed the EPACS prototype in action last year. 

“We looked at the total box of things that we were asked about” and worked to “make sure that we were mission critical itself and make sure that our system would actually hold up to that,” Henry Brooks, Collins president of power and controls, said in a Feb. 27 interview alongside Pess. “I think that our solution will be a novel one, if you will, for the F-35. It’ll enable not only the F-35” but also sixth-generation fighter jets like the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance platform as well as future commercial aircraft designs.

Additionally, according to Collins, the EPACS has achieved Technology Readiness Level 6, meaning the system is mature enough to enter into the engineering and manufacturing and development phase.

Power & Thermal Management System (PTMS) | Honeywell Aerospace

N61-2473-000-000_Power_Thermal_Mgmt_Systems1-bro.pdf

Power and Thermal Management System

F-35 Power and Thermal Management System  | Collins Aerospace

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Enhanced Power and Cooling System (EPACS)

For more than 70 years, Collins Aerospace has been the industry leader in providing the most advanced power and thermal management systems. Applying its experience in providing innovative systems on military and commercial platforms, Collins Aerospace developed the Enhanced Power and Cooling System (EPACS), which is the only test-demonstrated approach to provide a lasting solution for the F-35 cooling needs.

The next-generation of F-35

The F-35 is the most important aviation platform for our nation and our allies. It is the first of its kind, purpose-built fighter jet to provide both lethality and air dominance. It is used by all military services and our international partners. By utilizing one platform with multiple variants, the F-35 leverages economies of scale to field a cost-effective, next-generation stealth fighter.

Advancements by our adversaries, changing threats, and evolving environments require continual upgrades to the aircraft systems. The next wave of advancements will bring more than 50 improvements for the warfighter. Improvements to the jet’s sensor, radars, and weapons will tax the aircraft’s current systems and require greater cooling capacity.

According to the GAO, failure to improve current systems will lead to nearly $40 billion in additional maintenance costs. Understanding the urgency of this challenge, the Department of Defense issued a requirement to achieve 2 ½ times cooling capacity and turned to industry experts for an innovative solution.

A turnkey solution 

• Expands cooling capacity by 2.5x to support next-generation platform advancements.
• Leverages mature technologies to satisfy the urgent requirements of the Department of Defense’s Joint Program Office (JPO).
• Provides other essential functions such as cockpit pressurization and emergency power.

Cost-effective design

• Fits within the existing envelope of the airframe and it's compatible with all three F-35 variants.
• Reduces platform maintenance costs by tens of billions of dollars.
• Leverages a global supply and support network and robust manufacturing footprint.

Demonstrated success

• Builds on technology that has logged millions of flight hours across multiple military and commercial platforms.
• Proven in the lab under varied conditions and developed with millions of dollars in private investments.