With this the StandardAero’s F135 MRO&U facility in Netherlands became the first fully operational F135 engine depot outside US
9 August 2021: StandardAero recently achieved all Initial Depot Capability (IDC) requirements for the repair and overhaul of Pratt & Whitney F135 engine. With this the StandardAero’s F135 MRO&U facility in Netherlands became the first fully operational F135 engine depot outside US. The F135 engine powers all three variants of the 5th Generation F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft.
Marc Drobny, President of Military & Energy for StandardAero said, “Since our acquisition of DutchAero Services in March of 2015, we have been purposefully driving toward standing up our capabilities at LCW and operationalizing our F135 engine MRO services. We are proud to achieve the IDC milestone status and grateful for the collaborative efforts of all of our partners.”
Prior to this the StandardAero’s state-of-the-art 30,000 square foot facility at the Logistics Center Woensdrecht (LCW) of the Royal Netherlands Air Force achieved qualification for the assembly and disassembly capability for the F135’s fan and power modules as well as engine test operations. This facility features the first purpose-built international test cell for the F135 engine that was designed and constructed from the ground up to support F135 aftermarket test operations.
O Sung Kwon, Vice President, Pratt & Whitney Military Engines Sustainment Operations said, “Congratulations to the joint industry and government team on achieving IDC for the Netherlands F135 depot. This critical sustainment milestone is the culmination of years of planning, construction, deployments, training and qualification. I’m exceptionally proud of how this team navigated the various challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic to standup this F135 MRO&U capability on-time for the customer.”
With the declaration of IDC, the Netherlands depot will immediately begin supporting fan and power module repairs for the F135 engine fleet, providing increased capacity to the global F135 MRO&U network. Modules will be disassembled, repaired, and reassembled by StandardAero personnel with technical assistance from Pratt & Whitney, followed by testing and return-to-service of the module for use by global operators of the F135 engine.
The 5th Generation F135 is the most advanced and most powerful fighter engine in the world, featuring a host of performance attributes that deliver a step change in capability over 4th Generation engines. This includes 40,000+ pounds of thrust; a 50 percent increase in thermal management capacity enabling the full spectrum of F-35 weapons and sensor capabilities; a precise and responsive integrated engine control system allowing the pilot to focus squarely on the mission.
Additionally, the F135 is the most dependable fighter engine Pratt & Whitney has ever built in its 96-year history. With its advanced damage tolerant design and fully integrated prognostic health monitoring, the current F135 production engine has demonstrated a Mean Flight Hours Between Removal (MFHBR), which is the primary metric for reliability, that is more than two times the program objective.
