In 1978,
Garrett announced joint research on the
TFE1042 afterburner with Swedish company
Volvo Flygmotor AB in order to provide an engine for the
AIDC F-CK Indigenous Defence Fighter (IDF) being developed for the
Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force (ROCAF). The TFE731 Model 1042 was touted as a low
bypass ratio "military derivative of the proven commercial TFE731 engine" and "provides efficient, reliable, cost effective propulsion for the next generation of light strike and advanced trainer aircraft", with thrust of dry and with afterburner. After initial negotiation, the investment was going to be divided between Garrett, Volvo,
AIDC, and Italian company
Piaggio. The development would consist of the non-afterburning TFE1042-6 for light attack aircraft/advanced trainer, and TFE1042-7 for the
AMX or
F-5 upgrade. Garrett would be responsible for the core engine, and Volvo would be responsible for the fan section and the afterburner. The engine first ran for 3 hours at a Volvo test facility in 1979. The F-CK IDF first flew in 1989, and aircraft were delivered through 1999. Targeting the 70-130 seat passenger aircraft market, the TFE742 was a , high-bypass turbofan driven by a
gearbox. In the mid-1990s,
AlliedSignal considered developing a
turboprop engine for the European
Future Large Aircraft military transport (later known as the
Airbus A400M), which was to be based on the core of the TFE1042. AlliedSignal, AIDC, and other Asian partners also derived an industrial gas turbine from the TFE1042, initially as the AS1042, which evolved into the ASE120.
T-45 Goshawk / BAE Systems Hawk In the early 1990s, the
United States Navy considered the re-engining their fleet of
T-45 Goshawk trainer aircraft with the F124. On 7 October 1996, a T-45A test aircraft flew, powered by the rival F124 engine. The possibility of a F124-powered T-45 arose again in 1996 when
McDonnell Douglas offered an F124-engined T-45 to the
Royal Australian Air Force as a competitor for their trainer requirement.
BAe wanted to offer the F124 as an option on their entry for the RAAF trainer requirement, the
BAE Hawk (which the T-45 is based on), but ITEC refused to give BAe permission to offer it. ITEC's decision turned out to be a mistake, as the RAAF select the Hawk as their trainer. However, after the selection of the aircraft, the RAAF decided to have a separate competition between the F124 and the
Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour (which was BAe's selection) to power the new trainers. In 1997 the RAAF elected to use the Adour engine, effectively ending the F124's chances of being used on Hawk or T-45 aircraft.
L-159 In 1994, the F124 engine was selected to power the Czech
Aero L-159 Alca light combat aircraft. The combination first flew in 1997. In 2009, the
United Arab Emirates announced that their M-346 trainers would be powered by the F124-GA-200.
X-45A The F124 engine powered the
Boeing X-45A unmanned combat aerial vehicle demonstrator in the early 2000s.
T-5 Brave Eagle In 2017 the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation announced that their
AIDC T-5 Brave Eagle would use a variant of the F124.
Possible Jaguar usage The afterburning F125 engine was being considered, in 2009, by the
Indian Air Force as a replacement for the
Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour engines in their
SEPECAT Jaguar aircraft. The new engine would be both lighter and more powerful. It was successfully demonstrated in 2007. This proposal of
Indian Air Force to up-engine its fleet of
SEPECAT Jaguar ground attack aircraft stalled after a decade in August 2019 owing to the high cost involved. Jane's quoted that Honeywell quoted a price of US$2.4 billion for 180 F-125IN turbofan engines as replacements for the Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour Mk 811 powerpacks originally installed in the Jaguars. ==Design==