WASHINGTON — The Pentagon this week awarded Pratt & Whitney a sole-source contract value as much as $870 million to sustain the Cold War-era TF33 engines that power the Air Force’s B-52H Stratofortress and E-3 Sentry aircraft.
The Defense Logistics Agency’s base contract with the corporate is for six years, with an optional four-year extension, the Pentagon said Tuesday. The initial award value of the firm-fixed-price and cost-type contract is $40.7 million, which the corporate would cover the primary two years.
The contract also has a six-month transition period. If the Pentagon exercises all options with Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of RTX Corp., work can be accomplished in April 2034.
With the Air Force moving to retire its remaining E-3 airborne warning and control system, or AWACS, aircraft and replace the B-52′s six-decade-old engines with a brand new propulsion system from Rolls-Royce, the contract could cover sustainment for the remaining of the TF33′s life.
Pratt & Whitney will sustain nearly 1,000 TF33 engines under this contract, including providing maintenance, spare parts, program management, field service, repairs and engineering support, it said in a press release. Work will happen at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma and other Air Force locations, in addition to Pratt & Whitney’s Atlanta-based Southern Logistics Center.
Caroline Cooper, a Pratt & Whitney executive who oversees engine programs including the TF33, told Defense News that the contract will provide recent avenues to maintain those remaining engines flying.
“We’re taking a look at … the operational tempo of the aircraft [flying with TF33 engines], after which taking a look at inherent risks in the provision chain, and wanted to construct that upper limit in order that we will move quickly and expeditiously to get the boys and ladies within the Air Force what they need,” Cooper said.
Probably the most pressing concerns has been keeping the provision of spare parts for the aging engines flowing, Cooper said. The TF33 relied on “mom and pop-type suppliers” making area of interest parts in low volume, a few of whom have gone out of business over time, she said.
This contract provides funding for Pratt & Whitney to make those hard-to-find parts itself, or find recent firms that may fabricate them, she said.
Cooper also said the contract will give the corporate greater access to the Air Force’s maintenance databases at Tinker and other bases for the TF33, so it will probably have a greater picture of what the engine’s needs are. That may include more up-to-date information on spare parts supplies or what repairs are being conducted – information Pratt & Whitney hasn’t at all times had previously, and that would allow the corporate to forecast what spare parts and engineering support might be needed in the long run.
The contract will even provide for more Pratt & Whitney personnel at Tinker’s depot. It would also allow Pratt & Whitney to station teams of engine specialists at bases who would give you the chance to assist the Air Force’s uniformed maintainers troubleshoot and fix among the engine’s trickier repair problems. Cooper said that previously, Pratt & Whitney has had a smaller team specialists rotate through bases, but this might be a more everlasting on-site arrangement.
“We’ll get that intelligence directly from the maintainers, and [will] give you the chance to mix that with our enhanced depot level support team at Tinker,” Cooper said.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.