The Garrett ATF3 (US military designation F104) is a 3-spool

turbofan The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...

engine developed at the California division of

Garrett AiResearch Garrett AiResearch was a manufacturer of turboprop engines and turbochargers, and a pioneer in numerous aerospace technologies. It was previously known as Aircraft Tool and Supply Company, Garrett Supply Company, AiResearch Manufacturing Compa ...

. Due to mergers it is currently supported by

Honeywell Aerospace Honeywell Aerospace is a manufacturer of aircraft engines and avionics, as well as a producer of auxiliary power units (APUs) and other aviation products. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, it is a division of the Honeywell International conglom ...

. The engine is unusual as the core flow path is twice reversed 180 deg. Aft of the fan, the axial compressor has five stages, after which the gas path progresses to the aft end of the engine. There, it is reversed 180 deg and flows through a centrifugal compressor stage, the combustors and then the turbine stages. Beyond this, the flow is then reversed 180 deg again to exit in the fan bypass duct. All engine accessories are mounted on the aft end of the engine under an engine tail-cone.

Design and development

The ATF3 was first flown in the Teledyne Ryan YQM-98 Compass Cope R high altitude UAV, as the YF104-GA-100. The engine proved to have a very low infrared signature, as the hot turbine was not externally visible and the core exhaust mixed with the bypass air before exiting the engine. The pilots of U-2 high altitude chase planes reported being unable pick up the YQM-98A with either radar or IR sensors. It was later used in the

Northrop Tacit Blue The Northrop Tacit Blue was a technology demonstrator aircraft created to demonstrate that a low-observable stealth surveillance aircraft with a low-probability-of-intercept radar (LPIR) and other sensors could operate close to the forward line ...

stealth demonstrator because of these characteristics.ATF3 Airframe Applications.
Retrieved 26 June 2011 The most significant application of the engine was on the Dassault HU-25 Guardian, developed for the US Coast Guard. It was also used on the Dassault Falcon 20G and Dassault Falcon 200. The ATF3 was "selected by

North American Rockwell North American Aviation (NAA) was a major American aerospace manufacturer that designed and built several notable aircraft and spacecraft. Its products included: the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F- ...

for its new Series 60 Sabreliner business jet. . . . wever, the ATF3 developed engineering and production problems. Delivery schedules were not met. North American Rockwell brought a $60 million suit against Garrett. . . . The suit was settled out of court for less than $5 million cash. The engine was ultimately selected for a version of the

Dassault Falcon The Dassault Falcon is a family of business jets, manufactured by Dassault Aviation. July 2017 saw the 2,500th Falcon delivered – a Falcon 900LX – since the first Falcon 20 was handed over to a customer in 1965. The fleet has accumula ...

ordered by the U.S. Coast Guard for offshore surveillance."William Schoneberger and Robert R. H. Scholl, ''Out of Thin Air: Garrett's First 50 Years'' (Los Angeles: The Garrett Corporation, 1985): pp. 175-176.

Applications

* Dassault Falcon 20G * Dassault Falcon 200 * Dassault HU-25 Guardian *

* Ryan YQM-98 R-Tern (Compass Cope R)

Specifications (ATF3/F104-GA-100)

Citations

References

* * *

External links

Honeywell Aerospace ATF3 page
{{USAF gas turbine engines Medium-bypass turbofan engines

ATF3 Cyclic AMP-dependent transcription factor ATF-3 is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the ''ATF3'' gene. Function Activating transcription factor 3 is a member of the mammalian activation transcription factor/cAMP responsive element-bin ...