TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. (AFMCNS) -- A new service life extension program for the F110 engine is helping Tinker Air Force Base provide faster, better and less expensive support to the warfighters who maintain and fly the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
The Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center officially accepted the first engine into the F110 Service Life Extension Program Engine Modification and Augmenter Exhaust Nozzle Refurbishment, or AENR, in November.
"These modifications will make the lives of the Airmen on the flight line much better," said Col. Henry Gaudreau, 448th Hawk Propulsion Sustainment Group commander. "These engines are going to be more reliable and easier to maintain."
The F110-100 and F110-129 engines power the F-16 and have been in service for more than 20 years. The single engine fighters are slated to fly until 2025, according to Dana Grilley, SLEP program manager. But the aging engines are experiencing wear and life design issues.
"In order to get it to 2025, we've got to do something to increase the life of the F110 and that's what this modification does through newly designed parts," she said. "These newly designed parts have better durability and they are safer."
These include the core engine parts such as the combustor, the nozzles, the rotors and other similar parts, Ms. Grilley added.
The modifications include upgrades in materials thanks to advancements in technologies since the original engines were manufactured.
"We've come up with a plan that's not just a piece by piece fix, but a whole engine fix," Ms. Grilley said.
"We're hoping to double the average time on wing," Colonel Gaudreau said.
One of the major improvements is the replacement of the entire back section of the engine, he explained, which will make it much easier to maintain and much more reliable. "The maintainers love this," Ms. Grilley said. "They used to have to pull it off the wing for repairs. Now, many of those can be done without removing the engine from the plane."
Before these modifications, if one small part needed to be repaired, the entire engine would have to be removed from the plane and disassembled.
The increased reliability and improved technology has also lessened the number of special inspections the maintainers have to do on each engine, decreasing the time the aircraft is out of service, Ms. Grilley said.
"When you change technologies in the engines and they last longer, then you don't need as many planes because you don't have as many out of service for maintenance," Colonel Gaudreau said.
He added because essentially the same engineering and parts are also used in the F101 and F118 engines, the knowledge they have gained in the development of this program will be very transferable to other areas and engines.
"The learning we're doing in this program will, hopefully, translate into a life extension program for those engines as well," he said.
The AENR program is a concurrent upgrade required for the SLEP engines that provides a new Augmenter Exhaust Assembly.
According to Ms. Grilley, the total cost of the SLEP engine modification program is approximately $570 million over the life of the program, fiscal year 2006 to 2012, and the AENR upgrade is approximately $56 million.
Both programs are being managed by the 448th PSG F110 Program Office.
"This is a big deal for Tinker because we've never managed a major engine related acquisition and done the depot maintenance," Ms. Grilley said. "With this program, the whole thing is being managed and carried out right here."
The upgrade will be conducted both at the OC-ALC and at F110 Field Units located at 32 other bases.
"This is a whole-engine upgrade," Colonel Gaudreau said. "If you compare the cost of this program to the cost of completely new motors, it's pennies on the dollar."