Israel has signed a 15-year agreement with Pratt & Whitney for the maintenance of the engines of F-15I and F-16I fighter jets.
The multi-million dollar contract will be effective from January 2016.
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Pratt & Whitney will be responsible for logistics forecasting, management, upgrades and supply of spare parts, among others.
Having entered Israel’s service in 1998, the F-15I Ra’am is the air force’s lead plane.
The modified version of Boeing’s F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft is capable of carrying 11 tons of munitions, including air-to-air missiles and bombs.
It operates on two Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 engines.
The F-16I Sufa (Storm) are manufactured by Lockheed Martin. Equipped with a single Pratt & Whitney engine, the aircraft is capable of carrying air-to-air and radar guided missiles.
In August, the IAF 107 Squadron has equipped its F-16I Sufa fighter jets with advanced small diameter bombs (SDB), achieving the capability a decade after the arrival of the jet.
The contract, signed in the US, requires the engine maker to select local businesses for sub-contracts.
Beit Shemesh Motors, Israel Aerospace Industries and Chromalloy are likely to be the sub-contractors, reported the Arutz Sheva.
The Defence Ministry said that the contract will ensure that the Israel Air Force will have at its possession, at any time, a quantity of working engines, set in advance, for operating fighter aircraft.
