The JT8D-217 and -219 engine(s) were tested in 2001 and were deemed suitable replacements for the old
TF33 engines on military and commercial aircraft as part of the Super 27 re-engining program. The updated engines offer reduced (Stage-3) noise compliance standards without the need for hush kits, enhanced short field performance, steeper and faster climb rates with roughly a 10% reduction in fuel burn for extended range.
Pratt & Whitney, in a joint venture with Seven Q Seven (SQS) and Omega Air, has developed the JT8D-219 as a re-engine powerplant for
Boeing 707-based aircraft.
[3] Northrop Grumman uses the -219 to re-engine the United States Air Force’s fleet of 19 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (
E-8 Joint STARS) aircraft, which will allow the JSTARS more time on station due to the engine's 17%
[4] greater fuel efficiency. NATO also plans to re-engine their fleet of
E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft. The -219 is publicized as being half the cost of the competing 707 re-engine powerplant, the
CFM-56, for reasons of geometrical and balance similarity to the engine it is replacing and the associated relative up-front wing modification costs of the two choices.
[3][4]
The proposed
Aerion SBJ supersonic business jet, previously under development, was to use a pair of JT8D-219 engines for sustained
supersonic flight.
