Contract Awarded for Seventh Batch of F135 Engines

The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command awarded Pratt & Whitney a contract modification on October 14 for a seventh low-rate initial production lot (LRIP) of F135 engines for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The agreement includes the engine maker’s commitment to pay the cost of modifying the fan section in 150 delivered engines following a June engine fire that grounded the F-35 fleet and prevented its international debut in the UK.

The $592 million contract modification for 36 total F135 engines, combined with an advance procurement award of $88 million and a $263 million sustainment contract awarded in December, brought the total LRIP 7 engine cost to $943 million. In a joint statement, Pratt & Whitney and the F-35 Joint Program Office said they expect to sign an LRIP 8 contract for 48 more engines soon. According to the statement, the average engine prices for the three F-35 variants were reduced roughly 4.5 percent from LRIP 6 to LRIP 7, “and a similar price reduction is expected for LRIP 8 engines.”

“Pratt & Whitney has kept its commitment to lower costs for the F135 propulsion system,” said Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, F-35 program executive officer. “The government has negotiated a price for both LRIP 7 and 8 engines on Pratt & Whitney's ‘War on Cost’ plan. As we move toward full rate production and operational maturity, driving down cost will remain critical to the success of the F-35 program.”

The latest contract modification came after a joint investigative team signed off on the root cause of a June 23 engine fire in an F-35A at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., that led the Pentagon to ground the entire fleet, preventing the F-35’s planned international debut at the Royal International Air Tattoo and Farnborough Airshow in the UK. The root cause was “prolonged rubbing into the material in the stator,” according to the joint statement. “This rubbing decomposed and superheated the titanium rotor, leading to excessive heating, which started very small cracks in a titanium seal and then led to failure of the third-stage fan rotor.”

The parties said they are modifying currently fielded F135 operational and test engines and implementing a long-term fix for production engines.