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October 2, 2024

Here's where work on Pratt's $1.3B F135 engine contract will be done

courtesy Pratt & Whitney A F135 engine at Pratt & Whitney.
By Harriet Jones

More than 60% of the work on Pratt & Whitney’s major new fighter jet engine contract will be carried out in Connecticut.

That’s according to the contract issued by the Department of Defense, which says that 53% of the work on the F135 engine core upgrade will be carried out at Pratt’s home base in East Hartford, with 7% in Middletown and a further 6% at Windsor Locks.

The remainder will be spread around other U.S. sites including Indiana, Florida and Maine.

The F135 is the sole-source engine powering the F-35 fighter jet. The latest $1.3 billion contract was awarded after Pratt completed a preliminary design review of the work earlier this year.

According to the contract, the new phase will include design, analysis, rig testing, engine test preparation, developmental hardware, test asset assembly, air system integration and airworthiness evaluation, and is expected to be completed in March 2028.

Pratt says that more than 700 engineers and program managers are working full-time on the program.

The engine core upgrade was necessitated by issues with cooling the jet fighter, which cause the engine to run hotter than originally intended, shortening its lifespan. The planned upgrade will also deliver better thrust and fuel efficiency, Pratt said.

Once it’s in production, the engine core upgrade will be incorporated into new F-35 fighter jets at the point of production, or retrofitted at F135 depot sustainment facilities around the world.

To date, Pratt & Whitney has delivered more than 1,200 F135 production engines, with more than 900,000 engine flight hours recorded. 
 

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