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October 1, 2024

Pratt wins major $1.3B engine contract to continue work on F135 upgrade

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

East Hartford jet-engine maker Pratt & Whitney has received a $1.3 billion contract from the U.S. Navy to continue work on the F135 Engine Core Upgrade. The contract comes two months after Pratt & Whitney announced it had completed the preliminary design review of the engine upgrade.

The F135 is the sole-source engine powering the F-35 fighter jet.

"This contract is critical to continuing our positive forward momentum on this program," Jill Albertelli, president of Pratt & Whitney's military engines business, said in a statement. "It allows us to continue work in the risk reduction phase with a fully staffed team focused on design maturation, aircraft integration, and mobilizing the supply base to prepare for production."

According to the company, 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 aircraft, which can cause the engine to run hotter than originally intended, shortening its lifespan. The planned engine core upgrade will also deliver better thrust and fuel efficiency. 

In addition to solving these legacy issues, the ECU also enables the engine to handle forthcoming upgrades to the aircraft itself, known as Block 4, which are expected to require even more cooling capacity.

The ECU program was chosen by the Department of Defense last year, rejecting proposals that it should put the whole engine program out to bid to develop alternatives to the F135.

"We are fortunate to have bipartisan and bicameral support from our congressional advocates, especially the Connecticut and Maine delegations led by senior appropriators Sen. Susan Collins and Rep. Rosa DeLauro," Jeff Shockey, senior vice president of RTX Global Government Relations said.

Once it’s in production, the engine core upgrade will be incorporated into 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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