GE Aircraft Engines, EVENDALE, Ohio: General Electric Company's F110-GE-129 engine is powering Boeing's newest fighter aircraft, the F-15K, in flight tests this month in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Republic of Korea (ROKAF) selected the F110-GE-129 engine (rated at 29,000 pounds of thrust) to power 40 F-15K Strike Eagle aircraft for its “Next Generation Fighter” program. Aircraft deliveries are scheduled to begin later this year and end in August 2008.
“We are so pleased to be powering a new generation of F-15 fighters,” said Al DiLibero, general manager of the F110 engine program at GE. “The selection by the ROKAF will enable other militaries to better evaluate our engine's inherent operational advantages in powering new F-15s, and as a re-engining solution for mature F-15s in service.”
The United States Air Force (USAF) completed a highly successful field service evaluation of the F110-GE-129 powering the F-15E in 1999, after the engines surpassed 1,900 flight hours on the aircraft. The USAF extended the program beyond the originally planned 1,000-hour mark due to the engine's excellent performance, and high mission readiness rate of the aircraft/engine combination. GE's F110 has been the best-selling engine for F-16C/D aircraft for almost two decades.
Seventy-eight of the 88 F110 engines will be assembled through a licensing agreement with Samsung Techwin Co, LTD., which has assembled GE's T700, J79 and J85 engines currently powering ROKAF aircraft. GE and Samsung are also working together on the ROKAF's T-50 advanced trainer/light combat aircraft, to be powered by GE's F404 engine.
GE Transportation – Aircraft Engines, a part of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), is one of the world's leading manufacturers of jet engines for civil and military aircraft.
