Pratt & Whitney F100
| F100 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| F100 for an F-15 Eagle being tested | |
| Type | Turbofan |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Pratt & Whitney |
| First run | 1970s |
| Major applications |
F-15 Eagle F-15E Strike Eagle F-16 Fighting Falcon Northrop Grumman X-47B |
| Developed into | Pratt & Whitney PW1120 |
The Pratt & Whitney F100 (company designation JTF22) is an afterburning turbofan engine manufactured by Pratt & Whitney which powers the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon.
In 1967, the United States Navy and United States Air Force issued a joint engine Request for Proposals (RFP) for the F-14 Tomcat and F-15 Eagle fighters. The combined program was called Advanced Turbine Engine Gas Generator (ATEGG) with goals to improve thrust and reduce weight to achieve a thrust-to-weight ratio of 9. The program requested proposals and would award Pratt & Whitney a contract in 1970 to produce F100-PW-100 (USAF) and F401-PW-400 (USN) engines. The Navy would cut back and later cancel its order, choosing to continue to use the Pratt & Whitney TF30 engine from the F-111 in its F-14.
The F100-100 first flew in an F-15 Eagle in 1972 with a thrust of 23,930 lbf (106.4 kN). Due to the advanced nature of engine and aircraft, numerous problems were encountered in its early days of service including high wear, stalling and "hard" afterburner starts. These "hard" starts could be caused by failure of the afterburner to start or by extinguishing after start, in either case the large jets of jet fuel were lit by the engine exhaust resulting in high pressure waves causing the engine to stall. Early problems were solved in the F100-PW-220, and the engine is still in the USAF fleet to this day.
The F-16 Fighting Falcon entered service with the F100-200, with only slight differences from the -100. Seeking a way to drive unit costs down, the USAF implemented the Alternative Fighter Engine (AFE) program in 1984, under which the engine contract would be awarded through competition. The F-16C/D Block 30/32s were the first to be built with the common engine bay, able to accept the existing engine or the General Electric F110.
...
Wikipedia