Pratt & Whitney, an RTX business, has announced the delivery of an F100 engine to Poland. This delivery supports Poland’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the readiness of its F-16 fleet, which is powered exclusively by Pratt & Whitney engines. Currently produced in Middletown, Connecticut, the original F100 engines powering the Polish F-16 fleet were manufactured at Pratt & Whitney’s Rzeszów facility. Today, nearly 20 years later, that facility produces F100 static structures and critical rotating parts in support of new F100 engines and worldwide sustainment.
The Pratt & Whitney F100 (company designation JTF22) is an afterburning turbofan engine designed and manufactured by Pratt & Whitney to power the U.S. Air Force’s “FX” initiative in 1965, which became the F-15 Eagle. The F100 boasts operationally proven technologies, such as advanced materials and thermal coatings, improved turbine cooling capabilities and prognostic health management. Across global F-16 and F-15 fleets, the F100 has flown more than 30 million engine flight hours, which is nearly three times as many hours as other fourth-generation fighter engines.
“This is the first of several engines we’ll deliver to our Polish ally this year to ensure they have the propulsion power they need to address current and future threats. The Pratt & Whitney F100 is the mainstay powerplant for 23 global air forces, and we are seeing increased demand for our latest generation F100 engine,” said Josh Goodman, senior director of the F100 Program at Pratt & Whitney.
One of the former members of the Warsaw Pact that was looking to replace an aging fleet of Soviet-built Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (withdrawn in service in 1999 due to their small numbers and uneconomical operation) and the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 fighters (withdrawn from service in 2003), Poland conducted a competition between the Mirage 2000-5 Mk.2, the JAS 39 Gripen, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 (the last offer was withdrawn), and the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Despite a strong challenge by the BAe/SAAB team, Poland purchased 48 F-16C/D-52+ aircraft. The aircraft were delivered from 2006 under the PEACE SKY program. These jet fighters were nicknamed the F-16 Jastrząb (Goshawk) in Polish.
