Pratt & Whitney opened a new facility at its engine center in Columbus, Ga., for overhaul of F100 engines that power Air Force and allied F-15 and F-16 fighters, announced the company. The 105,000-square-foot facility enhances the company’s capacity to service F100s, states its Dec. 12 release. “To remain competitive and realize efficiencies, it made sense to take advantage of the engine services infrastructure we already have here in Columbus,” said Tom Bode, general manager of the Columbus Engine Center, located 90 miles south of Atlanta. In April, Pratt & Whitney announced plans to move the majority of the F100 engine overhaul work performed at its San Antonio Engine Center to Columbus. Construction began at Columbus in July; F100 engine overhauls are expected to begin there in the first quarter of 2014, states the release. The company also overhauls F117 engines for Air Force C-17 transports in Columbus and services V2500 and PW2000 commercial engines there, too, according to the release.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.