Pratt & Whitney announced yesterday at the Paris Air Show that it has delivered the first production hardware for the engine enhancement package that it has been developing under Air Force sponsorship for the F100-PW-229 powerplant used on service F-15s and F-16s as well as Navy and foreign fighters. The EEP was created to reduce the cost of F100-PW-229 ownership dramatically by increasing its depot inspection intervals from 4,300 cycles to 6,000 cycles. This means that the engines will require scheduled depot maintenance only once every 10 to 14 years versus the current seven to nine years, thereby reducing expected lifecycle costs by 30 percent, the company said. The EEP incorporates technologies from the F-22’s F119 engine and the F135 engine under development for the F-35.
Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, nominee to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Defense Department needs to upgrade its electronic warfare capability and its EW training ranges; just as his predecessor said at his own confirmation hearing.