F-16 Fighting Falcon News

August 14, 2006 (by Lieven Dewitte) - Pratt & Whitney, the U.S. specialist in the design, manufacture, and support of turbine engines had discussions with Bulgarian officials about their interest in purchasing F-16 fighter jets powered by their P&W F100 engine.
It is known that Lockheed Martin would like to offer the F-16C/D Block 50/52 configuration to Bulgaria, the same version that is currently being produced for Chile, Oman, Israel and Poland.

Since December 2002, when the Polish government decided to buy up to 48 F-16 block 52 aircraft
powered by the Pratt and Whitney F-100-229 engine, the U.S. company invested $220 mln in Poland, creating 6,700 jobs in the process.

Bulgarian Deputy Defence Minister Simeon Nikolov is optimistic that a deal with Bulgaria could be expected to have similar parameters.

Pratt & Whitney is excited about the possibility of working with Bulgaria if they select a P&W-powered fighter, but contrary to what has been written in certain Bulgarian newspapers, they have made no commitment to relocate work from Poland or establish operations in country.

Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies company, is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines.

Pratt & Whitney military engine models not only include the F100 for the F-16 and F-15 fighters but also the F135 for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter; the F119 powering the F/A-22 Raptor and many other military jets.