EAST HARTFORD, Conn.—Engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney said on Thursday that it has signed more than $18 billion worth of long-term agreements with its various product suppliers for its commercial and military aircraft engines as it prepares for a major ramp up in production over the next few years.

F-35Bstovlformation_LM_2
F-35B Joint Strike Fighters powered by Pratt & Whitney F135 engines. Photo: Lockheed Martin

This year Pratt & Whitney, a division of the multi-industrial United Technologies Corp. [UTX], expects the PW1100G series of its Geared Turbofan (GTF) family of engines to enter service on a new variant of Airbus Group’s A320 commercial plane, and the F135 engine on U.S. Marine Corps’ short take-off and vertical landing version of the F-35 program.

By 2020, Pratt & Whitney projects F135 production to double and GTF production to soar, driving most of the company’s expected revenue growth from the current $14.5 billion in annual sales to about $24 billion. The Air Force is slated to go operational with its version of the F-35 in 2016.

Pratt & Whitney is in the early stages of a production rampup of its GTF family and the F-135 that will go from about 800 large engines per year in 2015 to over 1,800 in 2020, with two-thirds of that from the GTF engines, Adams said.

The long-term outlook for commercial aviation continues to look very strong and there is “no end in sight,” with the two drivers being the megatrends of increasing urbanization and growth in the middle class worldwide, Paul Adams, president of Pratt & Whitney, told reporters at the company’s annual media day at its Customer Training Center.

The long-term supplier agreements that Pratt & Whitney has been entering into cover part and components for its PurePower PW1000G GTF family, the F135, and engines made by the Canadian division of Pratt & Whitney.

“In the 21st century community of global manufacturing, the aerospace industry views job creation and economic success from the holistic perspective of being one ecosystem, as our workload increases during our ramp in production, it increases for our suppliers as well,” Sergio Loureiro, vice president of Global Supply Chain for Pratt & Whitney, said in a statement.