Pratt & Whitney will deliver the final production F117 engine to the U.S. Air Force for its C-17 Globemaster III fleet later this month. A ceremony commemorating delivery of 1,313 production engines will be held later today at Pratt’s engine center in Middletown.
Pratt & Whitney’s F117 engine is a member of the company’s PW2000 family of commercial engines, known for powering the Boeing 757. Four F117 engines power the C-17, and each engine is rated at 40,440 pounds of thrust, which enables the aircraft to carry a payload of 164,900 pounds and fly 2,400 nautical miles without refueling.
The F117 engine first entered service in 1993. It has more than 12 million hours of military service and 50 million hours in commercial use. Through Pratt & Whitney’s ongoing investment in product improvements, the engine continuously surpasses established goals of time on-wing and support turnaround time.
F117 engines power nine C-17 fleets around the world, including the Royal Australian Air Force, the British Royal Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Qatar Emiri Air Force, the United Arab Emirates Air Force, the Indian Air Force, the NATO Airlift Management Programme, and the Kuwaiti Air Force in addition to the U.S. Air Force.
The ceremony, with representatives from the Air Force and Boeing, begins at 1:30 p.m. today.
