New Polish-US Agreement Targets F110-GE-129 Engine Servicing for F-15EX Multirole Fighter Jets
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GE Aerospace and Poland’s WZL-2 signed a Warsaw memorandum to build local F110-GE-129 engine support for the F-15EX, enabling faster repairs and boosting regional sustainment.
On 29 October 2025 in Warsaw, state-owned Military Aviation Works WZL-2 and GE Aerospace signed a memorandum of understanding to develop maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and depot-level capabilities in Poland for the F110-GE-129 engine that powers Boeing’s F-15EX fighter jet, as reported by GE Aerospace. The agreement was signed by Jakub Gazda, Chief Executive Officer of WZL-2, Zbigniew Matuszczak, Member of the Management Board and Technical Director of WZL-2, and Sean Keith, F110 Product Director at GE Aerospace, with the objective of identifying the requirements needed to support F110 maintenance in the country.
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The F110-GE-129 is a high-thrust, reliable turbofan engine powering the Boeing F-15EX Eagle II, a next-generation multirole fighter jet designed for superior speed, payload, and survivability in complex missions (Picture Source: U.S. Air Force)
At the centre of this agreement is an engine line with more than 40 years of continuous production and over 11 million flight hours, which is rare in modern fighter aviation. The F110-GE-129, rated at about 29,500 pounds of thrust, is today the only engine fully integrated on the Boeing F-15EX now entering service with the U.S. Air Force and chosen by several U.S. partners. It is also the engine used on a large number of F-16C/D Block 50 and Block 52 aircraft in the United States, the Middle East and parts of Asia, where customers selected GE rather than the alternative Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229. In Europe, however, major F-16 fleets such as Poland’s and Greece’s operate the Pratt-powered Block 52+, so the Warsaw project is clearly aimed at current and future GE-powered operators, not at every European F-16. It has to be noted further that the F110 family powers Türkiye’s KAAN fighter in its prototype and early production phase, which gives this engine an unusual span from upgraded 4th-generation fighters to the newest U.S. twin-engine air superiority jet and to Türkiye’s emerging 5th-generation platform.
The MoU sets out a practical roadmap. GE Aerospace and WZL-2 will map the requirements to perform intermediate- and depot-level work on the F110-GE-129 in Poland, including dedicated tooling, machining, technician training and test cell modifications. This builds on a parallel GE accord with the Military University of Technology in Warsaw to expand F110 training and even explore an additive manufacturing laboratory for aero-engine parts, meaning the aim is not just to bring engines to Poland but to create a stable local expertise base. One of the strengths of the F110 design is that up to 90 percent of maintenance can be done in-country through shop or unit replacement modules, drastically reducing aircraft downtime and overall life-cycle costs. Locating such modular, fast-turn maintenance in Warsaw will allow deployed U.S. and allied squadrons to recover engines on the spot instead of sending them across the Atlantic.
This industrial choice also makes sense when viewed against other engines in the same thrust class. The Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 remains a highly capable and well-supported engine for European F-16s, but it is not the engine that underpins the F-15EX program and it is not the interim solution for KAAN. The F135 that powers the F-35 is subject to a more centralised, global sustainment construct. The F110-GE-129, by contrast, is already certified on the F-15EX, already produced in meaningful numbers, already present in several non-European F-16 fleets and already flying on KAAN prototypes. Creating an MRO node for this specific engine in Poland therefore gives NATO and the U.S. Air Force a location in Europe that can immediately support aircraft deployed to the Eastern Flank, support GE-powered F-16 users that transit through or train in Europe, and later support KAAN activities that will for some time still depend on the U.S.-made engine.
Strategically and geopolitically, enabling WZL-2 to handle depot-level work on the only engine qualified for the F-15 Advanced Eagle family is a clear sign of trust and of forward positioning. For the United States, it means shorter repair cycles for aircraft rotating through Poland or operating from Baltic and Black Sea airspace, and greater resilience if U.S.-based repair capacity is saturated. For NATO allies, it means that a frontline state can now take in high-value engine work and return aircraft to service faster, which is critical in a prolonged crisis. For Türkiye and for any European partner eventually interested in KAAN, it ties the Turkish program into a maturing, NATO-based sustainment ecosystem at a moment when the local Turkish engine is still in development for the 2030s. And for Poland, which has hosted more than 2,000 GE Aerospace staff across six sites and received some 700 million dollars of investment since 1992, it confirms that aerospace sustainment is becoming a strategic national capability and not just an offset.
This step makes European air power more credible where it matters most by moving the sustainment of a key U.S. fighter engine family onto European NATO territory, close to the air bases that will actually fly the F-15EX, GE-powered F-16s and later KAAN. It aligns U.S. technology, Polish industrial capacity and allied operational needs around a single engine that already connects several fleets, and it does so at a moment when Europe is trying to harden its defence infrastructure on the Eastern Flank.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
{loadposition bannertop}
{loadposition sidebarpub}
GE Aerospace and Poland’s WZL-2 signed a Warsaw memorandum to build local F110-GE-129 engine support for the F-15EX, enabling faster repairs and boosting regional sustainment.
On 29 October 2025 in Warsaw, state-owned Military Aviation Works WZL-2 and GE Aerospace signed a memorandum of understanding to develop maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and depot-level capabilities in Poland for the F110-GE-129 engine that powers Boeing’s F-15EX fighter jet, as reported by GE Aerospace. The agreement was signed by Jakub Gazda, Chief Executive Officer of WZL-2, Zbigniew Matuszczak, Member of the Management Board and Technical Director of WZL-2, and Sean Keith, F110 Product Director at GE Aerospace, with the objective of identifying the requirements needed to support F110 maintenance in the country.
The F110-GE-129 is a high-thrust, reliable turbofan engine powering the Boeing F-15EX Eagle II, a next-generation multirole fighter jet designed for superior speed, payload, and survivability in complex missions (Picture Source: U.S. Air Force)
At the centre of this agreement is an engine line with more than 40 years of continuous production and over 11 million flight hours, which is rare in modern fighter aviation. The F110-GE-129, rated at about 29,500 pounds of thrust, is today the only engine fully integrated on the Boeing F-15EX now entering service with the U.S. Air Force and chosen by several U.S. partners. It is also the engine used on a large number of F-16C/D Block 50 and Block 52 aircraft in the United States, the Middle East and parts of Asia, where customers selected GE rather than the alternative Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229. In Europe, however, major F-16 fleets such as Poland’s and Greece’s operate the Pratt-powered Block 52+, so the Warsaw project is clearly aimed at current and future GE-powered operators, not at every European F-16. It has to be noted further that the F110 family powers Türkiye’s KAAN fighter in its prototype and early production phase, which gives this engine an unusual span from upgraded 4th-generation fighters to the newest U.S. twin-engine air superiority jet and to Türkiye’s emerging 5th-generation platform.
The MoU sets out a practical roadmap. GE Aerospace and WZL-2 will map the requirements to perform intermediate- and depot-level work on the F110-GE-129 in Poland, including dedicated tooling, machining, technician training and test cell modifications. This builds on a parallel GE accord with the Military University of Technology in Warsaw to expand F110 training and even explore an additive manufacturing laboratory for aero-engine parts, meaning the aim is not just to bring engines to Poland but to create a stable local expertise base. One of the strengths of the F110 design is that up to 90 percent of maintenance can be done in-country through shop or unit replacement modules, drastically reducing aircraft downtime and overall life-cycle costs. Locating such modular, fast-turn maintenance in Warsaw will allow deployed U.S. and allied squadrons to recover engines on the spot instead of sending them across the Atlantic.
This industrial choice also makes sense when viewed against other engines in the same thrust class. The Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 remains a highly capable and well-supported engine for European F-16s, but it is not the engine that underpins the F-15EX program and it is not the interim solution for KAAN. The F135 that powers the F-35 is subject to a more centralised, global sustainment construct. The F110-GE-129, by contrast, is already certified on the F-15EX, already produced in meaningful numbers, already present in several non-European F-16 fleets and already flying on KAAN prototypes. Creating an MRO node for this specific engine in Poland therefore gives NATO and the U.S. Air Force a location in Europe that can immediately support aircraft deployed to the Eastern Flank, support GE-powered F-16 users that transit through or train in Europe, and later support KAAN activities that will for some time still depend on the U.S.-made engine.
Strategically and geopolitically, enabling WZL-2 to handle depot-level work on the only engine qualified for the F-15 Advanced Eagle family is a clear sign of trust and of forward positioning. For the United States, it means shorter repair cycles for aircraft rotating through Poland or operating from Baltic and Black Sea airspace, and greater resilience if U.S.-based repair capacity is saturated. For NATO allies, it means that a frontline state can now take in high-value engine work and return aircraft to service faster, which is critical in a prolonged crisis. For Türkiye and for any European partner eventually interested in KAAN, it ties the Turkish program into a maturing, NATO-based sustainment ecosystem at a moment when the local Turkish engine is still in development for the 2030s. And for Poland, which has hosted more than 2,000 GE Aerospace staff across six sites and received some 700 million dollars of investment since 1992, it confirms that aerospace sustainment is becoming a strategic national capability and not just an offset.
This step makes European air power more credible where it matters most by moving the sustainment of a key U.S. fighter engine family onto European NATO territory, close to the air bases that will actually fly the F-15EX, GE-powered F-16s and later KAAN. It aligns U.S. technology, Polish industrial capacity and allied operational needs around a single engine that already connects several fleets, and it does so at a moment when Europe is trying to harden its defence infrastructure on the Eastern Flank.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
