General Electric contracted to produce engines for newest U.S. Air Force fighters

The U.S. Department of Defense has contracted General Electric for an unspecific number of F110-GE-129 engines for the newest U.S. Air Force F-15EX fighter jets.

The contract, announced Tuesday by the Department of Defense, is worth more than $101.3 million.

Work on the contract will be performed at GE’s Cincinnati worksite and has an expected completion date of Nov. 30, 2022.

The Pentagon said in Jun. 30 press release that the “award is the result of an unusual and compelling urgency acquisition.”

The F-15EX Advanced Eagle fighter jet, commonly known as Strike Eagle on Steroids, is the latest version of the world famous F-15 Eagle fighter jet. The new fighter would be equipped with better avionics and radars and would carry more than two dozen air-to-air missiles.

The improved version of F-15 will can carry the full array of air-to-air, air-to-ground and maritime strike weapons. The aircraft can engage a multitude of targets on any given mission.

F-15EX became a program of record for the Air Force when the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2020 was signed on Dec. 30, 2019. In January, the Air Force issued public notifications of its intent to award sole-source a contract to Boeing for eight jets. Future plans call for as many as 144 aircraft.