While the U.S. Air Force is sticking with the General Electric [GE] F110-129 engine for the service’s F-15EX fighter by Boeing [BA], potential foreign buyers may want a possibly cheaper RTX [RTX] Pratt & Whitney F100-229 engine.
In 2021, the Air Force chose GE over Pratt & Whitney to build up to 329 engines for the F-15EX under a nearly $1.6 billion contract (Defense Daily, Oct. 29, 2021).
The Air Force picked GE to build eight engines for F-15EX Lot 1 but opened Lots 2-9 to competition.
The Air Force program executive office for fighters and advanced aircraft at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio said on July 8 that the service “is not planning to integrate Pratt & Whitney engines on the F-15EX.”
Foreign nations, including Indonesia and Poland, are interested in buying the fly-by-wire F-15EX, which is based on the two-seat Qatari F-15QA configuration upgraded with U.S. Air Force-only features, including the BAE Systems‘ Eagle Passive Active Warning and Survivability System (EPAWSS) and the F-15 Operational Flight Program software.
“We have had customers ask about the feasibility of a Pratt engine,” Boeing said last month. “We have explored that as an option if a customer wanted that. However, that would come with additional cost and flight evaluation requirements.”
Indonesia’s potential buy of 36 F-15EXs–F-15ID in that country’s configuration–includes options for 87 GE F110-129s or Pratt & Whitney F100-229s.
Josh Goodman, Pratt & Whitney’s senior director of F100 programs, said in an email statement on July 9 that the F100 engine “is a great fit for the F-15EX because of its superior thrust to weight ratio that optimizes acceleration and maneuverability.”
“It’s also the only fourth-gen engine offering operationally proven fifth-gen technologies for both domestic and international operators,” he said. “We are seeing increased demand for the latest generation of our F100 engine and continue to support engine sustainment worldwide with our active production line.”