New lease of life for aircraft engine testing

TAE Aerospace will upgrade the test system for the F414 engines that power the RAAF’s Super Hornet and Growler aircraft.

CAPTION: RAAF’s Super Hornets will benefit from an upgrade of engine test cells at RAAF Bases Amberley and Williamtown. Photo by Leading Aircraftwoman Kate Czerny.

The upgrade will replace control and data acquisition system (CDAS) software and hardware that is reaching the end of its supportable life.

The project will upgrade the CDAS in both the primary F414 engine test cell at RAAF Base Amberley and the back-up test cell at RAAF Base Williamtown, thus maintaining redundancy in F414 engine test capability in Australia.

Val Lawson, Director of Enabling Services for the Air Combat and Electronic Attack Systems Program Office, said the system had served Defence well for more than a decade.

“TAE’s comprehensive system upgrades will now ensure that these critical engine test facilities remain reliable and sustainable to support our air combat capabilities well into the next decade,” Mrs Lawson said.

CAPTION: Val Lawson, from the Air Combat and Electronic Attack Systems Program Office, signs the engine test cell upgrade contract with TAE Aerospace CEO Andrew Sanderson.

CEO of TAE, Andrew Sanderson, said: “TAE is extremely proud and excited to be engaged by Defence to deliver this test system upgrade project over the next two years, and in doing so will assure the future of the F414 engine testing capability in Australia.”

The F414 CDAS upgrade project follows a major modification to the RAAF Amberley engine test facility, which TAE completed in 2021. This has enabled F135 engines for the global F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program to also be tested in Australia.

TAE will complete the upgrade project by mid-2025.

CAPTION: An upgrade to engine test cells at RAAF Bases Amberley and Williamtown will support air combat capabilities such as the Growler. Photo by Corporal Jesse Kane.

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