GE Awarded $630M For F414 Engines Support for F/A-18, Growler Aircraft

The US Navy has awarded a $630 million worth contract to General Electric (GE) to provide support for F414 engine components used on the Super Hornets and EA 18G Growler fighter aircraft, the Department of defense announced Tuesday.

Under a “$630,500,000 firm-fixed-priced, performance-based logistics requirements type contract”, the contractor will provide “repair, replacement and program support of 773 F414 engine components used on the F/A-18 E/F and EA 18G aircrafts”, the statement said.

Work will be performed in various GE supplier locations; and Jacksonville, Florida. Work is expected to be completed by April 2022, it said.

The F414 is an afterburning turbofan engine produced by GE Aviation. The F414 originated from GE’s widely used F404 turbofan from the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, enlarged and improved for use in the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.

According to GE Aviation, the F414 Enhanced Engine is delivering expanded capabilities for next generation combat needs. With up to 18% more thrust and twice the horsepower of its predecessor, the F414 Enhanced Engine is poised to complete missions on time and on task.

F414 engines provide today’s combat-proven Boeing Super Hornet and Growler electronic attack with significant survivability and payload improvement compared to earlier weapon systems.