Pratt & Whitney has received $887.9m to buy parts for the F135 engine for the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighter jet

The US Department of Defence has awarded Pratt & Whitney nearly $1bn in addition to a previously awarded contract to produce F135 powerplants for the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighter jet.

Here's What We Know

The US company has been awarded $887.9 million for the purchase of spare parts and other components for the F135 propulsion system. The customers are the Air Force, the Navy, the US Marine Corps and customers outside the US Department of Defense.

The deadline is December 2026. Work under the contract will take place in the continental US, including at Raytheon plants in Connecticut and Maine.

Note that Pratt & Whitney, which is part of Raytheon Technologies Corp, is concurrently working on a prototype of an adaptive cycle powerplant for a fifth-generation fighter jet. The company is competing with General Electric. The engine is being developed as part of the Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP), which could receive nearly $600 million in additional funding.

As for the F135, the engine is used in all fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighters, but it will need to be upgraded to meet increasing cooling capabilities. The Pentagon will have to find $38bn in the budget to do so.

Source: Pentagon