A Defense Department investigation uncovered a “harmonic resonance” issue, and Pratt & Whitney was able to develop a field fix that allowed deliveries to resume after several months. Not long after a “handshake” deal was announced, a December 2022 crash of an F-35B halted deliveries of both F-35s and F135 engines. The contracts for Lot 17 of both the engine and aircraft come after negotiations on Lots 15-17 of the aircraft dragged on for months longer than anticipated. Work is expected to be finished by mid-2026. Last month, the Pentagon exercised a $7.8 billion contract option for Lot 17 of the F-35 aircraft-126 airframes in total-with contractor Lockheed Martin. Air Force funds cover another $557 million, and the Department of the Navy contribution is around $646 million. F-35 partners and foreign military sales funds-some $817 million. The contract announcement said a large portion of the money for Lot 17 will come from non-U.S. Those engines would presumably not be included in Pratt & Whitney’s planned F135 Engine Core Upgrade-needed to meet the F-35’s growing power and cooling needs-as the contractor has said it is targeting 2028 to start delivering those enhanced engines. The company said at the time Lot 17 could include 140 or more engines. The new contract does not specify how many engines will be included in the lot, but it does come three months after Pratt & Whitney announced it had struck a deal with the F-35 Joint Program Office for Lots 15 and 16 of the engine, with an option for Lot 17. The deal for Lot 17 F135 engines, totaling $2.02 billion, is expected to be completed by December 2025, the Pentagon said in its announcement. The Pentagon awarded a contract worth over $2 billion for the next batch of F-35 engines to Pratt & Whitney on June 5.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |