The 1000th F135 production engine was handed over to the U.S. Department of Defense for the 5th Generation F-35 Lightning II fighter.
Pratt & Whitney (P&W), a producer of aircraft engines widely used in both civil aviation and military aviation announced that the company has successfully delivered the 1,000th F135 production engine. The engine was handed over to the U.S. Department of Defense for the 5th Generation F-35 Lightning II fighter. This milestone delivery was marked by a celebration with Pratt & Whitney employees, company leaders, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) as well as representatives from the F-35 Joint Program Office.
P&W has invested more than 500 million dollars since the first F135 production engine was delivered in 2009. The investment was mainly for capital, process improvements and cost reduction initiatives to support the production ramp and reduce the average unit cost of the F135 by more than 50%. In addition to Middletown, F135 production sites include P&W’s West Palm Beach, FL facility as well as a Final Assembly & Check-Out (FACO) facility operated by IHI in Japan.
“The 1,000th F135 delivery is a testament to the hard work of thousands of P&W employees and hundreds of suppliers who play a vital role in every engine that comes off the production line,” said Jen Latka, vice president, F135 program, Pratt & Whitney. “This milestone underscores the maturity of the F135, which has been proven in the field as the safest, most capable fighter engine in the history of military aviation. As the only 5th Generation fighter engine in production today, the F135 provides the warfighter with a critical technological advantage. We are proud to support our men and women in uniform as a partner on the F-35,”she further added.
The F135 engine has evolved from the F119 engine powering the F-22 Raptor. The engine delivers a step change in capability over the previous generation of engines. This includes 40,000+ pounds of thrust; a substantial increase in a thermal management capacity. This enables the full spectrum of F-35 weapons and sensor capabilities. The precise and responsive integrated engine control system of the F135 production engine allows the pilot to focus squarely on the mission, and an unmatched low observable signature enables the F-35 to conduct operations in modern Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2AD) environments.
The F135 has ample design margin to grow for the F-35 missions of the future. Pratt & Whitney’s proposed block upgrade to the F135, known as the Enhanced Engine Package (EEP), delivers the fastest, most cost-efficient, lowest risk path to fully enabled Block 4 capability for all F-35 operators. This will save the U.S. Department of Defense $40 billion in lifecycle costs and build upon a combat-tested architecture with more than one million flight hours of dependable operation.
“Every one of those 1,000 engines represents safe, affordable, reliable 5th Generation propulsion capability in the hands of our customers,” said Jill Albertelli, president, Pratt & Whitney Military Engines. “The F135 is the pinnacle of combat propulsion, ensuring our women and men in uniform can complete their missions in the most advanced threat environments and return home safely,” she further added.
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The F135 has demonstrated a best-in-class safety record and the current production engine configuration is achieving double the specification for Mean Flight Hours Between Engine Removals (MFHBR). The F135 sustainment network is also maturing, and engine availability has improved by approximately 75% over the end of 2021.
