Pratt & Whitney today held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new 845,000 square foot facility in Oklahoma City, Okla. As part of the project announced in March, Pratt & Whitney is investing $255 million in the new facility, which will act as a hub for depot support for Pratt & Whitney military engines maintained at Tinker Air Force Base and other depot locations, including those for the F-35, C-17, F-22, F-15, F-16, B-52, and E-3 AWACS.
The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by key local leaders, including Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04), Rep. Stephanie Bice (OK-05), Sec. John Nash, Councilman Todd Stone, and representatives from Sen. James Lankford’s, Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s, Gov. Kevin Stitt’s, and Mayor David Holt’s offices.
Pratt & Whitney has deep roots in Oklahoma City dating back to the 1940s, when the Army established a depot for the C-47 Skytrain and its R-1830 Twin Wasp engines. Today, Oklahoma City is the heart of Pratt & Whitney’s global sustainment network and plays a critical role in many of the company’s most important military engines programs, achieving record output from the F117, F119, and F135 Heavy Maintenance Centers in 2022.
Once complete, the new facility will expand the company’s current sustainment capacity in Oklahoma City while consolidating six existing sites into two locations: the new Pratt & Whitney Oklahoma City facility and Tinker Air Force Base’s Air Logistics Complex.
Pratt & Whitney’s Engine Core Upgrade (ECU) is an upgrade for the F135 that will provide an affordable, low-risk, and agile pathway to enabling Block 4 capabilities for all F-35 customers. The ECU leverages Department of Defense investments in propulsion technology to deliver the advanced capability needed for Block 4 and beyond, while maintaining the variant-commonality and international partnership approach upon which the joint program was built.
