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Engine Competition Preserved for Joint Strike Fighter Program

Written by thomas · Filed Under Defense 

December 22, 2009

thomas

Engine Competition Preserved for Joint Strike Fighter Program
$465 Million in Funding for GE/Roll-Royce Engine in Fiscal Year 2010

EVENDALE, OHIO – December 22, 2009 – The annual jet engine competition
for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) has been preserved by the Defense
Appropriations Bill submitted by the U.S. Congress, and signed by
President Barack Obama.  The Bill includes $465 million in fiscal year
2010 for the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Team’s F136 engine.

By continuing the F136 – the competing JSF engine that is already more
than 70 percent through its development – the U.S. Congress  preserves
the annual, head-to-head jet engine competition  planned for the
Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), and demonstrates continued leadership for
acquisition reform reaffirming competition to control cost, while
spurring innovation and  accelerating weapon system readiness and
performance.

“Competition is at the heart of defense acquisition reform,” said
David Joyce, president and CEO of GE Aviation. “We are deeply
gratified by 15 years of consistent, bipartisan Congressional support
for the F136 engine and by preserving the annual competition. It keeps
the engine manufacturers at their best, developing the best engines
and value for our military.  The argument is simply too compelling for
competing engines on the largest military fighter jet program in
history.”

With funding secured, the GE/RR team enters a very aggressive test
period in 2010, with several production-configuration engines involved
in the test program.  GE/RR is slated to deliver F136 flight test
engines in 2011.

Already, the benefits of competing JSF engines are being realized.  In
September, the GE/RR team submitted an unsolicited fixed-price
contract proposal for JSF – a unique approach for early F136
production engines that shifts significant cost risk from taxpayers to
the contractors.  This fixed-price approach reflects the objectives of
the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009.

More than $2.5 billion has been invested in developing the GE
Rolls-Royce F136 engine, including more than $50 million from GE and
Rolls-Royce.

History shows that competing fighter engines significantly reduce
program costs, while improving safety, reliability, and contractor
responsiveness. The “Great Engine War,” the 20-year battle to power
the F-16 fighter, demonstrated cost savings of 21 percent, according
to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.  For the
JSF, that equates to more than $20 billion in savings over the life of
the program.

The F136 engine is the most advanced fighter aircraft engine ever
developed and will be available to power all variants of the F-35
Lightning II aircraft for the U.S. military and eight partner nations.

The F136 engine is a product of the best technology from two
world-leading propulsion companies. The GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine
Team has designed the only engine specifically developed for the F-35
aircraft, offering extra temperature margin and affordable growth.
F136 engine development is being led at GE Aviation in Evendale, Ohio
(Cincinnati suburb), Ohio; and at Rolls-Royce in Indianapolis,
Indiana.

The F-35 is a 5th-generation, multi-role aircraft designed to replace
the AV-8B Harrier, A-10, F-16, F/A-18 Hornet and the United Kingdom’s
Harrier GR.7 and Sea Harrier, all of which are currently powered by GE
or Rolls-Royce.  Potential F-35 production for the U.S. Air Force,
Navy, Marines and international customers may reach as many as 5000 to
6000 aircraft over the next 30 years.

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