New $225 Million Sustainment Centre
Pratt & Whitney announced plans on 24 March to invest $225 million over the next five years in a new sustainment facility for military engines in Oklahoma City. The facility will act as a hub for depot operations for all the company’s military engines, including those for the F-35, C-17, F-22, F-15, F-16, B-52, and E-3 AWACS.
Oklahoma Governor, Kevin Stitt, commented “This $255 million investment in a world-class sustainment center helps strengthen Oklahoma’s position as the MRO capital of the world”. Pratt & Whitney Military Engines’ President, Jill Albertelli, added “Pratt & Whitney’s Oklahoma City site plays a critical role in our global sustainment network […] Last year, the team achieved record output for the F117, F119, and F135 Heavy Maintenance Centers—this investment in a new facility will further expand our capabilities and reaffirm our commitment to our customer for years to come”.
The Oklahoma City site complements company capabilities in Australia, Japan, the Netherlands and Norway, as well as multiple US locations. As the only site capable of performing all F135 power module scope levels, the new Oklahoma City Sustainment Center will increase the site’s MRO capabilities as the F135 programme continues to expand.
Pratt & Whitney’s Engine Core Upgrade (ECU) is a block upgrade for the F135, with the objective of providing an affordable, low-risk, agile pathway to fielding meaningful propulsion capability for all F-35 customers. ECU leverages DoD investment in adaptive technology, to deliver the advanced capability needed for Block 4 and beyond, while maintaining variant commonality and international partnership approach the joint programme was built upon.
Activated in 2014, Pratt & Whitney’s Oklahoma City F135 Heavy Maintenance Center is responsible for the majority of the F135’s maintenance work. Last year, the site produced 73 power modules on a requirement of 60—a 43% increase from 2021, or 61% of the total power module output for the entire sustainment network. This year, the site will be responsible for a requirement of 78 production power modules.
Pratt & Whitney’s extensive history in Oklahoma dates back to the establishment of an Army depot for the C-47 Skytrain assembly in the 1940s. Today, the site employs over 450 full-time employees, with an additional 450 partner contractors across a number of disciplines, including engineering, data analytics, materials and logistics, quality, and procurement. The new facility will consolidate six existing sites, bringing all disciplines into two locations: the Oklahoma City Sustainment Center and the Tinker AFB Air Logistics Complex.
