Earlier this month, the French General Directorate of Armaments (DGA) carried out a test that is aimed at determining the engine with which the Future Combat Air System aircraft will operate.
On January 10 last year, the DGA revealed that a prototype derived from the M88 engine, the motor of the Dassault Rafale fighter, was tested at a Turenne defense technology testing facility.
“This test is distinctive by the technique used, called Thermocolor, which requires heart-sensitive paint; applied to the blades of the engine’s high-pressure turbine blades, it measures the temperature thanks to a color change. This type of trial is very rare; the most recent at DGA Propellant Testing dates back to 2010,” explained the DGA.
In line with the French Ministry of Defense, the NGF (New Generation Fighter) sixth-generation fighter aircraft developed by France, Germany, and Spain within the framework of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) will need more powerful engines than its predecessors.
