Pratt & Whitney expects to support the venerable F100 fighter engine for another half-century, as the 1970s-era powerplant continues in service on both new and old platforms.
The F100 is among the world’s most prolific fighter engines, powering both the Boeing F-15 and Lockheed Martin F-16 since they first flew in the early 1970s.
Josh Goodman, senior director of the F100 programme at Pratt & Whitney, lists a number of milestones for the engine, such as 30 million hours flown, 7,300 engines produced, and 3,500 engines still in service. Including the US Air Force, 23 operators use the F100.
“When we think about the F100 today, we still have an active production line, and we are pumping out engines for [F-16] Block 72 aircraft,” says Goodman.
“And we are positioning this enterprise for another fifty years of support, not only for the engine’s traditional uses, but for the way the F100 continues to reinvent itself in applications such as Hermeus.”
In December 2022, hypersonic aircraft start-up Hermeus selected the F100 to act as the turbine portion of Chimera II, its combined cycle engine. Goodman believes the F100 is also well-placed to power future unmanned platforms.
In the meantime, the company continues to focus on meeting the needs of existing customers, in particular through performance-based logistics (PBL) contracts.
“Availability is really what sustainment is all about, and that’s really where the PBL construct comes into play,” he says, arguing that they allow P&W to better anticipate customer needs.
South Korea recently awarded the manufacturer a $355 million PBL contract to maintain F100 engines that power Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) F-15s and F-16s.
“The motto that we have there is ‘one team, one family’, and that is something that the ROKAF and Pratt & Whitney teams really cherish,” says Aaron Austin, P&W’s country director in South Korea.
