F100-PW-229

Reliable, High Performance for the F-15 Eagle and the F-16 Fighting Falcon

A Proud Tradition of Dependable Performance: 1974 marked the operational introduction of the first Pratt & Whitney F100 engine model, the F100-PW-100, in the F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter.  Since then, various models of the F100 have been selected by the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, and 21 allied nations for all versions of the F-15 and the F-16 Fighting Falcon multi-role lightweight fighter.  F100 engines power 100 percent of U.S. Air Force F-15 aircraft and 62 percent of F-16 fighters worldwide.  Over 7200 F100 engines have been produced and have accumulated more than 21,000,000 flight hours under the most rigorous operational environments found around the world.  The F100 record of dependability, performance and safety has set a worldwide standard for fighter engine excellence.  The F100-PW-229 is an improved, high-thrust evolution of the F100-PW-220, Pratt & Whitney's electronically-controlled high-performance fighter engine that entered production in the mid-1980’s for F-15 and F-16 fighters.  Pratt & Whitney’s F100-PW-229 Increased Performance Engine (IPE), already the most widely used advanced technology fighter engine in the world, continues to capture market share and to boost weapon system capabilities with proven enhancement packages and growth options.

An Unmatched Safety Record: The most significant accomplishment of the F100 family is its extraordinary flight safety record.  The current safety record of the F100 engine family represents the progress achieved using Pratt & Whitney’s advanced system safety program approach.  Identified refinements designed to enhance the maturity of the F100-PW-229 are expected to continue to sustain long-term safety rates significantly better than those of the F100-PW-220; the safest fighter engine in U.S. Air Force history.  The F100-PW-229 engine has the best safety record of any IPE engine.

Full Production and Operational Maturity: The F100-PW-229 is the latest production model in the F100 family of fighter aircraft engines.  It incorporates proven technological innovations and generates over 29,100 pounds of thrust.  It has been specifically designed to operate at full performance in all existing and future F-15 or F-16 aircraft.  It provides a thrust-to-weight ratio close to eight-to-one and features a state-of-the-art digital electronic engine control (DEEC) system with enhanced, real-time engine monitoring and fault isolation capability.  The F100-PW-229 entered production in December 1989 and began full operational service in September 1991.  In 1994, the Republic of Korea became the first U.S. ally to go operational with the F100-PW-229 in its F-16C/Ds.  The F100-PW-229 engine is clearly the engine of choice with over 1050 engines in service with the U.S., Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Polish, Greece and Israel air forces.  The F100-PW-229 engine powers over 71 percent of the IPE market for international F-15 and F-16 aircraft.

Proven Mission Sustainment: The F100-PW-229 entered service in the most demanding operational and climatic environment in the U.S. Air Force; the F-15E air-to-ground mission at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska.  Due to its evolutionary derivation from earlier F100 models, the F100-PW-229 entered this service with a full-service hot section life of 4300 thermal cycles (total equivalent cycles or TAC) or over seven years between required depot visits.  The F100-PW-229 incorporates a number of improvements including the insertion of the latest technologies into the high pressure turbine — second generation single crystal airfoils with the latest serpentine cooling technology and advanced thermal barrier coatings, super-conductive shroud air seals, low leakage combustor brush seals, more aerodynamically efficient bowed stators, and various mechanical and coating enhancements designed to reduce wear, eliminate leakage and simplify assembly. These improvements greatly enhance durability and provide substantial margin for future thrust growth.

Redefining Full Life:  For over 30 years, the U.S. Air Force’s F100 Component Improvement Program (CIP) has supported the development of significant reliability, maintainability and safety improvements for all F100 models.  In 1993, the Air Force recognized that the F100-PW-229 had reached a level of technological development that would ensure its full-life maturity at 4300 TAC.  As a result, the Air Force initiated the development of an Engine Enhancement Package (EEP) with the objective of achieving a F100-PW-229 engine specification of 6000 TAC’s.  Incorporation of the F100-PW-229 EEP — successfully demonstrated in 2004 — achieves the objective of increasing the engine depot inspection interval from 4300 to 6000 TAC.  This increase is equivalent to extending the depot interval from seven years to ten years.  In addition, the EEP provides a 30 percent life cycle cost reduction over the life of an F100-PW-229 engine.  The EEP also offers significant safety benefits; reducing the predicted in-flight shutdown rate by 25 percent.  The F100-PW-229 engine is the only fighter engine funded and qualified by the U.S. Air Force to the 6000 cycle capability.

Infusion of Advanced Technologies: The F100-PW-229 Engine Enhancement Package (EEP) includes a sixth-generation digital electronic engine control system, which incorporates advanced engine health monitoring (prognostics and diagnostics) and aircraft interactive capabilities, as well as the advanced hot section technology developed for the F-22 Raptor F119 engine and the F-35 Lightning II F135 propulsion and lift system.  The F100-PW-229 EEP significantly increases the life capability of the turbine hardware by incorporating these low-risk technologies developed and matured for the fifth-generation fighter engines – Pratt & Whitney’s F119 and F135.  No other production fighter engine manufacturer in the world has this unique opportunity for incorporating these proven advanced technologies into its near-term products.

Improving F-15 Fleet Longevity, Performance and Affordability: The U.S. Air Force (USAF) continues to invest in the F100-PW-229 EEP, through the CIP, in order to increase time-on-wing and to expand the inspection interval as Air Force maintainers move toward improved and more streamlined maintenance practices. The EEP program is especially important to the Air Force in increasing the depot maintenance interval and reducing operating cost of its F-15 fleet, which is expected to continue to play a critical roll in U.S. combat readiness beyond 2035.  Reduced removal rates, increased depot intervals and usage-based maintenance capability, as provided by the sixth-generation digital electronic control system and advanced engine software, mean the engine stays in operation much longer, resulting in significantly reduced maintenance infrastructure and maintenance expense.  The EEP will be incorporated in all production F100-PW-229 engines beginning in 2009.  These engines will be available for new F-15 and F-16 production and for the replacement of engines in existing fleets where the benefits of low cost of ownership and improved performance and reliability are considered important.  The EEP features have also been specifically designed so that they can be easily installed in all existing pre-2009 F100-PW-229 engine assets. The F100-PW-229 EEP engine combines proven design features with evolutionary technology enhancements to effectively balance low technical risk, affordability and high performance for all existing and future F-15 and F-16 applications. 

Customer Support and Satisfaction is Key:  Pratt & Whitney is proud of the F100 engine family’s track record  over the last 30 years of operational service, and with the new F100-PW-229 EEP, the F100 remains the engine of choice for F-15 and F-16 fighter aircraft around the globe.