image: Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has received a seven-year, $9.9 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to extend the life of landing gear for the F-16 Fighting Falcon fleet. SwRI will leverage its aging aircraft expertise to predict when parts need replacement, determine the root causes of failure and improve maintenance practices.
Credit: U. S. Air Force
SAN ANTONIO — October 27, 2025 — Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has received a seven-year, $9.9 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to predict the life of landing gear components for the F-16 Fighting Falcon fleet. SwRI will leverage its aging aircraft expertise to predict when parts need replacement, determine the root causes of failure and recommend improvements to maintenance practices. The contract falls under the Comprehensive Landing Gear Integrity Program, a 20-year, $300 million Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract shared among three organizations, including SwRI.
The F-16 is a compact, multirole fighter first introduced in 1978 and is currently the world’s largest fixed-wing military aircraft fleet, with over 2,000 aircraft in active service worldwide.
“Aircraft landing gear experience unique conditions compared to other aircraft components,” said SwRI Principal Engineer Laura Hunt, who oversees the project. “We are looking at impact forces during touchdown, stress from towing loads and factors like corrosion and vibration, which make the landing gear particularly vulnerable to fatigue and damage over time.”
SwRI has provided technical engineering support to the Air Force for several decades under the Aircraft Structural Integrity Program (ASIP) and the U.S. Air Force Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE). These programs address aging aircraft structures and material degradation. SwRI has developed structural health monitoring systems and specialized inspection probes, as well as the NASGRO® software, which analyzes fracture and fatigue crack growth in structures and mechanical components.
SwRI aims to improve the efficiency and accuracy of current methods used to estimate the lifespan of landing gear components by applying the Institute’s expertise in flight data recording, full-scale testing, life prediction and probabilistic analysis.
“Our fatigue life prediction experience and probabilistic analysis capabilities set SwRI apart on this work, allowing us to predict the service life of these parts while assessing uncertainties with greater confidence,” Hunt said.
For more information, visit https://www.swri.org/markets/defense-security/defense-aerospace-aircraft/aerospace-structures.