The $2.8B contract funds 141 F135 engines for U.S. providers and allies, securing manufacturing, spares, and upgrades by February 2028.
Pratt & Whitney has been awarded a significant contract, valued at almost $2.9 billion, for the manufacturing of latest F135 engines that can energy Lot 18 F-35 Lightning II fighters. The deal, introduced by the U.S. Division of Protection and the corporate on Aug. 22, 2025, covers 141 propulsion methods, together with spares and assist, for all three variants of the plane, to be accomplished by February 2028.
The F135 is the only engine used on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, supporting the standard take-off and touchdown (CTOL), service (CV), and quick take-off and vertical touchdown (STOVL) variants operated by the U.S. Air Power, Navy, and Marine Corps, in addition to worldwide program companions and International Army Gross sales (FMS) clients.
A $2.9 Billion Deal
In response to the Division of Protection contract discover, the award is structured as a not-to-exceed $2,878,495,761 undefinitized contract modification managed by the Navy’s Naval Air Methods Command (NAVAIR). The deal provides scope to the beforehand awarded multiyear F135 contract, increasing manufacturing to cowl the 141 propulsion methods wanted for Lot 18 plane.
The funding breakdown highlights the multinational scope of the F-35 program, because the contract is financed by a mixture of U.S. Navy and Air Power procurement budgets, overseas navy buyer contributions, and price shares from worldwide F-35 program individuals.
The Division of Protection additionally detailed the in depth industrial footprint concerned in engine manufacturing. This system is predicted to maintain greater than 67,000 jobs and 240 suppliers throughout the U.S., in response to Pratt & Whitney.
Lot 18 F-35 Manufacturing
The engines can be delivered to the U.S. Air Power, Navy, and Marine Corps, together with worldwide F-35 program individuals and FMS clients. Particularly, Lot 18 will see 141 engines produced for 145 F-35 plane, with Pratt & Whitney scheduled to finish deliveries by February 2028.
This engine order aligns with Lockheed Martin’s December 2024 contract award for Lot 18 F-35 airframes, value as much as $11.8 billion. That deal covers 145 plane to be delivered by mid-2027.
Air & House Forces Journal calculated that the typical value of every Lot 18 F135 engine involves roughly $20.4 million. When mixed with the price of the airframes, the general common value of an F-35 on this manufacturing lot is projected to exceed $101 million per plane.
Clearly, you will need to observe that that is the typical worth because the three variants have totally different costs. In response to Lockheed Martin, for Heaps 15 by 17, the typical flyaway value of an F-35A was $82.5 million; $109 million for an F-35B, and $102.1 million per F-35C.
The F-35 Joint Program Workplace defined that Lot 18 and later plane incorporate upgraded methods and capabilities, a part of the Expertise Refresh 3 and Block 4, which account for the rise in value. Whereas detailed pricing per variant of the brand new Lot 18 stays undisclosed, each the plane and engine offers replicate the regular development of the F-35 program towards extra succesful configurations.
Pratt & Whitney’s Assertion
In its August 26 press launch, Pratt & Whitney emphasised the significance of the F135 engine as a cornerstone of the Joint Strike Fighter program.
“The combat-proven F135 engine delivers the ability, security, reliability, and low-observability to make sure operators can accomplish their most important missions,” stated Christopher Okay. Johnson, vp for the F135 program at Pratt & Whitney. “The F135 is in the end an funding in mission assurance, offering the warfighters of as we speak and tomorrow the technological edge to struggle and win.”
The corporate highlighted its supply of greater than 1,300 F135 engines so far to assist a worldwide fleet of greater than 1,215 F-35s unfold throughout 20 allied nations. Past its function in powering the F-35, Pratt & Whitney underscored this system’s financial impression: over $9.1 billion contributed to the U.S. financial system in 2024 alone.
Future Developments
Whereas Lot 18 engines symbolize a continuation of present manufacturing, Pratt & Whitney can also be making ready for future upgrades. In truth, the corporate is creating the F135 Engine Core Improve (ECU), designed to boost thermal administration and auxiliary energy era to satisfy the rising calls for of the F-35’s onboard methods.
The ECU effort adopted the Pentagon’s resolution to not fund an alternate adaptive engine program. The U.S. Air Power beforehand advocated for the Subsequent-Era Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) engine, however the Workplace of Administration and Funds decided that the service must bear the complete improvement value by itself.
In consequence, the Pentagon as a substitute selected to pursue incremental enhancements to the present F135 structure, consolidating assist throughout all F-35 operators reasonably than splitting the fleet between a number of engine sorts. The brand new improve can be instrumental to satisfy the rising calls for of the upgrades introduced by the Expertise Refresh 3 and Block 4.
