An Oklahoma City manufacturer has landed a five-year, multi-million-dollar contract with the U.S. Air Force to remanufacture critical heat exchangers for the F-16 Fighting Falcon, beating out at least two out-of-state competitors for the work. Wall Colmonoy, which has operated in Oklahoma City for more than 60 years, says the deal is expected to expand operations at its local facility and bring new manufacturing jobs to the metro.
The contract, valued between $5 million and $6 million, covers the remanufacture of Primary and Secondary Heat Exchangers for the F-16, according to the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. As reported by News 9, a nonfunctioning heat exchanger can prevent an F-16 from flying at all, making the component essential to keeping the aging fighter fleet airworthy.
Cynthia Harris, Wall Colmonoy's heat exchanger area manager, has worked at the company for 12 years and said the components demand exacting precision. The heat exchangers contain small metal pieces known as fins that must be cut within a tolerance no greater than the width of a strand of hair, per the same News 9 report. Harris said the parts must be manufactured with extreme precision, and the plant uses a five-step process to assemble each unit.
A Six-Decade Relationship With Tinker
Wall Colmonoy sits near Tinker Air Force Base, the largest single-site employer in Oklahoma with 27,000 men and women on staff, according to News 9's report. The company will continue its partnership with Tinker and work directly with the base as it fulfills the new contract, supporting what officials describe as the readiness of the U.S. fighter fleet.
The proximity is more than convenient geography. The Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex at Tinker operates as the Department of Defense's largest MRO facility, employing over 9,000 military and civilian personnel, according to Tinker Air Force Base. Wall Colmonoy developed the original heat exchanger overhaul and re-core procedures for the Air Force in the 1990s and has since processed more than 2,400 military aircraft heat exchangers, per Wall Colmonoy.
The Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce praised Wall Colmonoy for winning the contract, saying the company supports both the F-16 Fighting Falcon and U.S. national security. The company plans to add welders, inspectors and shop technicians at its Oklahoma City facility as it ramps up work under the new agreement, News 9 notes.
Remanufacturing Over Replacement
The contract allows the Air Force to remanufacture existing components instead of replacing them with more expensive new parts, a practice that can save taxpayer money while sustaining an aging fleet. The supplied sources do not establish a bid protest by Wall Colmonoy over solicitation cancellations or a GAO denial. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office's GAO-19-51 report, officials cited examples of maintenance taking months or years longer than expected, in part because of shortages in skilled personnel.
The stakes for keeping F-16s flying remain sizable. The U.S. Air Force operates 784 active F-16 Fighting Falcons out of a global active fleet of 2,621 across 27 nations, according to GlobalMilitary.net, cementing the jet's status as the world's most widely flown fighter.
Riding Oklahoma's Aerospace Wave
Wall Colmonoy's win lands amid a broader boom for Oklahoma's aerospace and defense sector, now the state's second-largest and fastest-growing industry. It generates $44 billion in annual economic impact and has over 206,000 jobs across more than 1,100 companies, according to the Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics. Roughly 90 percent of those companies specialize in maintenance, repair and overhaul work, a niche that has made Oklahoma one of seven recognized global MRO centers. According to the Oklahoma Department of Commerce's ACES Annual Report 2024, the state had 46 open aerospace and defense projects with the potential for $2.21 billion in capital investment and more than 6,900 new jobs, with an average salary of $84,334.
Capital investment in the sector reached $450 million in 2025 across 37 new or expanding businesses — a 300 percent surge over 2024 — creating 1,325 new jobs, per state economic reports released in April. Tinker Air Force Base itself generated roughly $7.5 billion in economic impact.
Wall Colmonoy Corporation is headquartered in Michigan. The specialized brazing and re-core procedures used on F-16 heat exchangers were developed for the Air Force in the 1990s, and the company has since processed more than 2,400 military aircraft heat exchangers. The Aerobraze plant performs work on these military airframe components. The new contract is expected to bring additional economic activity to Oklahoma City and support the broader local economy for the next five years.
