February 17, 2008: A Polish firm has completed assembling and testing 43 American F100 jet engines, to be used in F-16 fighters bought from the United States. This work began in late 2006. While several Polish firms have been producing aircraft engines for over half a century, most of these were licensed Soviet designs. Doing this work on the F100s demonstrated that Polish firms were capable to dealing with more exacting Western technology. The Poles have been going after aircraft maintenance work, offering high quality work, and low prices for airlines and air forces in neighboring countries, and for international airlines that fly into Poland.