Egypt Upgrades its F-16s

General Electric Aviation has been awarded a $275 million contract to upgrade the engines of Egypt’s F-16 Fighting Falcon fleet.

The US Department of Defence (DoD) on 31 October stated that the $273 509 940 firm-fixed-price requirements type contract is for Service Life Extension Programme conversion kits to upgrade F110-GE-100 engines on Egyptian Air Force F-16s.

Work will be performed in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is expected to be completed by 30 October 2023.

The F110 Service Life Extension Programme (SLEP) is an upgrade that saves maintenance hours and extends the life of the F110 engine. It uses technology from the CFM56-7 commercial engine core, 3D aero technology, and a redesigned flow path with changes to the combustor and high-pressure turbine, compressor and augmentor. General Electric believes these enhancements lower cost per flying hour by up to 25%, eliminate special inspections and increase flying hours.

The F110-GE-100 engine is the alternate power plant for the Block 30/32/40 variants of the F-16, powering the fighter from 1985 after the US Air Force encountered maintenance problems with the original Pratt & Whitney F100

According to Jane’s, the Egyptian Air Force received 36 F110-GE-100-powered F-16C and 81 F110-GE-100-powered F-16D Block 40 aircraft between October 1991 and June 2001, as well as other F100-PW-220 powered F-16s.

The Egyptian Air Force is one of the largest F-16 operators in the world, with 220 aircraft in service. It is Egypt’s primary frontline fighter, although it is being supplemented by Dassault Rafales and MiG-29s. Deliveries of these types continue, with Egypt also acquiring weapons for them – for example, last month it emerged that it had acquired Kh-31 air-to-surface missiles for its MiG-29M/M2s.

This article was first published by our partner defenceWeb on November 2, 2018.