Pratt & Whitney is in line for two U.S. Dept. of Defense contracts relating to the F135 turbofan engine and totaling more than $517 million. The F135 is the propulsion system for the single-engine F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Pentagon’s largest defense program and currently the object of an expansive technological update.
The F-35 is a series of fighter jets deployed for ground attack and combat, and available in three variants, for the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Navy, as well as the defense forces of 17 other nations.
The first award, a $405.3-million modification to an earlier contract, will see Pratt & Whitney Military Engines procure spare parts for production and delivery of F135 engines. This will include spare parts for service depots and the F-35 global spares pool, and “country-unique spares” for various operators of the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.
Most of the work to fulfill this assignment will be conducted at Pratt & Whitney’s main manufacturing center in East Hartford, Conn., and is expected to be complete by the end of 2027.
The second award is a $111.9 modification to an earlier contract and extends the period for completing the Propulsion System Block Four Flight Test Program to December 2026, to provide continued technical engineering, flight test support, special tooling, test equipment repair, and flight test spare and repair parts for that program.
The F135 propulsion system is being updated (Engine Core Upgrade) to improve its durability and performance in support of the F-35 Block 4 update – a broader project to advance the aircrafts’ electronic hardware and software, in order to support facilitate dozens of new weapons systems.
"Pratt & Whitney is upgrading the F135 engine with technology from multiple development programs to deliver increased capability and performance for the warfighter," stated Chris Johnson, vice president of Pratt & Whitney's F135 program, in July when the preliminary design review was completed. "Upgrading the F-35's propulsion system to ECU is a critical step toward ensuring the F-35 remains the world's premier air dominance fighter."
However, for various reasons the Block 4 update is almost three years behind schedule. The Government Accounting Office recently reported that the evolving requirements and additional goals have pushed the completion date from 2026 to 2029, and increased the budget from $10.9 billion to $16.5 billion.
