Fighter Engine Re-competition RFI

The Department of the Air Force Materiel Command Lifecycle Management Center at Wright Patterson Air Force Base is conducting a market research Request for Information to identify qualified industry partners for a competitive, long-term fighter engine production and sustainment strategy supporting USAF and Foreign Military Sales aircraft; responses are due by August 28, 2026. This is not a commitment to contract, and respondents bear all submission costs.

The RFI targets innovative propulsion solutions for F-15EX and F-16 platforms, with projected peak demand exceeding 180 engines per year by FY2034. The government acknowledges current industrial base challenges including production delays, quality control issues, and diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortages. The acquisition strategy rests on five pillars: performance and capability at reduced lifecycle cost, affordability through improved supply chain reliability, reliability for fleet readiness, supportability for sustainable maintenance, and producibility at scaled production levels.

Respondents must address company profile and relevant experience; engine qualification and airframe integration timelines for military type certificates; production capacity scalability across tiered annual production levels (1–12, 13–48, 49–96, and 96–180 engines); quality and delivery reliability with real-time manufacturing metrics; obsolescence and supply chain risk mitigation strategies; performance-based incentive structure recommendations; and digital engineering approaches to sustainment. Submissions must be unclassified PDFs or Word documents with proprietary information clearly marked. Capt Dustin Herridge at dustin.herridge@us.af.mil is the point of contact.