According to Selcan Hacaoğlu’s report at Bloomberg, Turkiye asked for U.S. permission to produce GE’s F-110 engines in Turkiye. These engines are known for their use on F-16 and F-15 aircraft. Turkiye asked about this model, the twin-engine version, which is marked as F-110 GE-129. The F-16, however, uses F-110 GE-100 version.
The GE-129 is the twin-engine version of the F-110 GE-110. The GE-110 propels F-16 and GE-129 for F-15. When compared, the twin-engine version shares the propulsion of subcomponents. In this way, the workload of turbines is distributed. For instance, the rotation of turbine blades influences the aircraft inertially. The F-110 GE-129 turbine blades do not turn in the same direction. They countereffect each other by turning in opposite directions.
Turkiye went a step closer to confirming Sweden’s NATO membership, as requested by the U.S. President Joe Biden, earlier this week. The topic was discussed at the Foreign Affairs Committee and approved. The General Assembly will vote on the resolution. The requirement is connected to the sale of 40 new F-16 Viper aircraft and 79 kits by Lockheed Martin, which provided timely support for the Nordic nation’s entry into the alliance.
As a stop-gap solution, until KAAN becomes operational, Turkiye intends to retire its F-4 jets and improve its F-16 fleet. The country is also interested in acquiring Eurofighter Typhoon jets.
Turkiye’s request for joint production of F110 GE engines followed a June agreement between TUSAS Engine Industries Inc. (TEI) and GE Aerospace. The agreement extended TEI’s existing licence to provide F110 Depot Level Maintenance services to several countries that operate F-16 and F-15 fighter aircraft. TEI is one of the largest manufacturers of F110 engine parts, as it produced these engines for F-16s.
