F-35 Engine Deal

By Lee Hudson / August 27, 2013 at 3:48 PM

The Joint Strike Fighter Joint Program Office and engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney announced this morning that they have reached an agreement on a production contract for the sixth lot of engines for the F-35 aircraft.

The LRIP 6 contract covers 38 engines, including program management, engineering support, sustainment and spare parts, according to a joint statement.

"Cost details will be released when the LRIP 6 contract is finalized; however, in general, the unit prices for the 32 common configuration engines which are used to power both the [Air Force's] conventional-takeoff-and-landing (CTOL) aircraft and the aircraft-carrier variant (CV) aircraft reduced in LRIP 6 by roughly 2.5 percent compared to the previous LRIP 5 contract for 35 engines," the statement reads.

The unit prices for the six short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing aircraft engines reduced in LRIP 6 by roughly 9.6 percent compared to three STOVL engines in the LRIP 5 contract.

"This agreement represents a fair deal for government and Pratt & Whitney," Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, F-35 program executive officer, said in the statement. "Driving down cost is critical to the success of this program and we are working together -- in each successive contract -- to lower costs for the propulsion system."

The LRIP 6 contract includes 36 install engines and two conventional takeoff and landing whole spare engines. The contract will also include the first propulsion systems for Italy and Australia, the statement reads.

136005