The Air Force of the Republic of Korea (ROKAF) selected GE's F110 fighter engine to power 40 new Boeing F-15K aircraft in an engine order valued at more than $340 million.

The ROKAF selection launched the popular F110 fighter engine on the twin-engine F-15 aircraft. For almost two decades, GE's F110 engine family has been the best-selling engine for single-engine F-16C/Ds worldwide.

The contract calls for the procurement of 80 installed engines, plus eight spares. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2005 and continue through 2008.

The F110 engines will be assembled through a licensing agreement with Samsung Techwin Co., LTD. GE will handle final assembly of the initial engines, then it will transition to Samsung, using full engine kits produced by GE. For several decades, Samsung has assembled (under license) GE's T700, J79, and J85 engines powering ROKAF aircraft. GE and Samsung are also working together on the ROKAF's T-50 advanced trainer/light combat aircraft, to be powered by GE's F404 engine.

Close to 3,000 F110 engines have been ordered worldwide since the engine was first selected by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) in 1984. In addition to the USAF and USN, nine other governments worldwide have selected or now operate F110 engines for their F-16C/D fleets as well as Japan's F-2 fleet. The F110-GE-129 model (rated at 29,000 pounds of thrust) selected by Korea for the F-15 first entered operational service with USAF F-16s in 1992.

The F110 is no stranger to the F-15. In 1999, the USAF completed a highly successful field service evaluation of the F110-GE-129 powering the F-15E, during which time the engine surpassed 1,700 engine flights hours on the aircraft. In fact, the USAF extended the program beyond the 1,000 hours originally envisioned due to the engine's remarkable performance and the high mission readiness rate of the aircraft/engine combination.