An afterburner is an additional combustion component used on some jet engines, mostly those on military supersonic aircraft. Its purpose is to increase thrust, usually for supersonic flight, takeoff, and combat. The afterburning process injects additional fuel into a combustor in the jet pipe behind the turbine, "reheating" the exhaust gas. Afterburning significantly increases thrust as an alternative to using a bigger engine with its attendant weight penalty, but at the cost of increased fuel consumption which limits its use to short periods. This aircraft application of "reheat" contrasts with the meaning and implementation of "reheat" applicable to gas turbines driving electrical generators and which reduces fuel consumption.
The Rolls-Royce RB.44 Tay was a British turbojet engine of the 1940s, an enlarged version of the Rolls-Royce Nene designed at the request of Pratt & Whitney. It saw no use by British production aircraft but the design was licence built by Pratt & Whitney as the J48, and by Hispano-Suiza as the Verdon.
The Rolls-Royce Spey is a low-bypass turbofan engine originally designed and manufactured by Rolls-Royce that has been in widespread service for over 40 years. A co-development version of the Spey between Rolls-Royce and Allison in the 1960s is the Allison TF41.
The Pratt & Whitney JT3D is an early turbofan aircraft engine derived from the Pratt & Whitney JT3C. It was first run in 1958 and was first flown in 1959 under a B-45 Tornado test aircraft. Over 8,000 JT3Ds were produced between 1959 and 1985. Most JT3D engines still in service today are used on military aircraft, where the engine is referred to by its US military designation of TF33.
The Pratt & Whitney F119, company designation PW5000, is an afterburning turbofan engine developed by Pratt & Whitney for the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, which resulted in the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. The engine delivers thrust in the 35,000 lbf (156 kN) class and was designed for sustained supersonic flight without afterburners, or supercruise. Delivering almost 22% more thrust with 40% fewer parts than its F100 predecessor, the F119 allows the F-22 to achieve supercruise speeds of up to Mach 1.8. The F119's nozzles incorporate thrust vectoring that enable them to direct the engine thrust ±20° in the pitch axis to give the F-22 enhanced maneuverability.
The Pratt & Whitney J58 is an American jet engine that powered the Lockheed A-12, and subsequently the YF-12 and the SR-71 aircraft. It was an afterburning turbojet engine with a unique compressor bleed to the afterburner that gave increased thrust at high speeds. Because of the wide speed range of the aircraft, the engine needed two modes of operation to take it from stationary on the ground to 2,000 mph (3,200 km/h) at altitude. It was a conventional afterburning turbojet for take-off and acceleration to Mach 2 and then used permanent compressor bleed to the afterburner above Mach 2. The way the engine worked at cruise led it to be described as "acting like a turboramjet". It has also been described as a turboramjet based on incorrect statements describing the turbomachinery as being completely bypassed.
The Pratt & Whitney TF30 is a military low-bypass turbofan engine originally designed by Pratt & Whitney for the subsonic F6D Missileer fleet defense fighter, but this project was cancelled. It was later adapted with an afterburner for supersonic designs, and in this form it was the world's first production afterburning turbofan, going on to power the F-111 and the F-14A Tomcat, as well as being used in early versions of the A-7 Corsair II without an afterburner. First flight of the TF30 was in 1964 and production continued until 1986.
The Pratt & Whitney J57 is an axial-flow turbojet engine developed by Pratt & Whitney in the early 1950s. The J57 was the first 10,000 lbf (45 kN) thrust class engine in the United States. The J57/JT3C was developed into the J52 turbojet, the J75/JT4A turbojet, the JT3D/TF33 turbofan, and the XT57 turboprop. The J57 and JT3C saw extensive use on fighter jets, jetliners, and bombers for many decades.
The General Electric J79 is an axial-flow turbojet engine built for use in a variety of fighter and bomber aircraft and a supersonic cruise missile. The J79 was produced by General Electric Aircraft Engines in the United States, and under license by several other companies worldwide. Among its major uses was the F-104 Starfighter, B-58 Hustler, F-4 Phantom II, A-5 Vigilante and IAI Kfir.
The Pratt & Whitney J75 is an axial-flow turbojet engine first flown in 1955. A two-spool design in the 17,000 lbf (76 kN) thrust class, the J75 was essentially the bigger brother of the Pratt & Whitney J57 (JT3C). It was known in civilian service as the JT4A, and in a variety of stationary roles as the GG4 and FT4.
The Rolls-Royce RB.41 Nene is a 1940s British centrifugal compressor turbojet engine. The Nene was a complete redesign, rather than a scaled-up Rolls-Royce Derwent, with a design target of 5,000 lbf (22 kN), making it the most powerful engine of its era. First run in 1944, it was Rolls-Royce's third jet engine to enter production, and first ran less than 6 months from the start of design. It was named after the River Nene in keeping with the company's tradition of naming its jet engines after rivers.
The Rolls-Royce Avon was the first axial flow jet engine designed and produced by Rolls-Royce. Introduced in 1950, the engine went on to become one of their most successful post-World War II engine designs. It was used in a wide variety of aircraft, both military and civilian, as well as versions for stationary and maritime power.
The Pratt & Whitney J52 is an axial-flow dual-spool turbojet engine originally designed for the United States Navy, in the 40 kN class. It powered the A-6 Intruder and the AGM-28 Hound Dog cruise missile. As of 2021 the engine was still in use in models of the A-4 Skyhawk.
The Dassault MD.452 Mystère is a 1950s French fighter-bomber.
The Rolls-Royce AE 3007 is a turbofan engine produced by Rolls-Royce North America, sharing a common core with the Rolls-Royce T406 and AE 2100. The engine was originally developed by the Allison Engine Company, hence the "AE" in the model number.
The Wright J65 was an axial-flow turbojet engine produced by Curtiss-Wright under license from Armstrong Siddeley. A development of the Sapphire, the J65 powered a number of US designs.
The General Electric F404 and F412 are a family of afterburning turbofan engines in the 10,500–19,000 lbf (47–85 kN) class. The series is produced by GE Aerospace. Partners include Volvo Aero, which builds the RM12 variant. The F404 was developed into the larger F414 turbofan, as well as the experimental GE36 civil propfan.
The General Electric YF120, internally designated as GE37, was a variable cycle afterburning turbofan engine designed by General Electric Aircraft Engines in the late 1980s and early 1990s for the United States Air Force's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program. It was designed to produce maximum thrust in the 35,000 lbf (156 kN) class. Prototype engines were installed in the two competing technology demonstrator aircraft, the Lockheed YF-22 and Northrop YF-23.
The Westinghouse J40 was an early high-performance afterburning turbojet engine designed by Westinghouse Aviation Gas Turbine Division starting in 1946 to a US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) request. BuAer intended to use the design in several fighter aircraft and a bomber. However, while an early low-power design was successful, attempts to scale it up to its full design power failed, and the design was finally abandoned, deemed a "fiasco" and a "flop".
The Volvo RM8 is a low-bypass afterburning turbofan jet engine developed for the Saab 37 Viggen fighter. An augmented bypass engine was required to give both better fuel consumption at cruise speeds and higher thrust boosting for its short take-off requirement than would be possible using a turbojet. In 1962, the civil Pratt & Whitney JT8D engine, as used for airliners such as the Boeing 727, was chosen as the only engine available which could be modified to meet the Viggen requirements. The RM8 was a licensed-built version of the JT8D, but extensively modified for supersonic speeds, with a Swedish-designed afterburner, and was produced by Svenska Flygmotor.
