The Pentagon has issued a contract to Pratt & Whitney for long-lead items for 37 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter engines that will be used in the sixth production run of the Lockheed Martin-build aircraft.
The $194-million contract includes long-lead components, parts and materials for the engines. The award issued last week covers 18 Air Force F-35As, six Marine Corps F-35Bs and seven Navy F-35Cs, and a combined six for the governments of Italy and Australia, which are buying the Air Force variant.
The sole source contract was awarded after the Pentagon decided last year it would not buy F-35 engines from the General Electric [GE]-Rolls Royce partnership.
The partnership tried to keep the program alive by spending its own dollars, but dropped the effort after receiving little enthusiasm for doing so from the Pentagon (Defense Daily, Dec. 5).
The F-35 is currently in its fifth low-rate initial-production phase.