EAST HARTFORD, CT-The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded Pratt & Whitney a $1.13 billion contract for F135 production engines to power the F-35 Lightning II. Pratt & Whitney and the DoD have reached an agreement on price and terms for the LRIP 4 contract, originally awarded in July 2010, which contains fixed-price and cost-plus incentive fee elements. This low rate initial production (LRIP) contract includes production, spare parts, sustainment and delivery of the fourth lot of F135 engines. Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies Corp. company.

"This contract provides our customer with a 15% savings on the conventional takeoff and landing/carrier variant, compared to LRIP 3, and demonstrates our commitment toward meeting aggressive cost reduction goals for the F135 engine," says Bennett Croswell, president of Military Engines, Pratt & Whitney. "It also speaks to the maturity of our engine, which builds on the proven technology of our F119 engine. The F135 engine has powered all 868 F-35 flights, including 100 vertical landings in the short takeoff/vertical-landing (STOVL) configuration."

The fourth lot of F135 engines includes 18 conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) and 19 STOVL engines. Deliveries for this lot are slated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2011. The engines delivered in LRIP 4 will support the U.S. Services, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

Pratt & Whitney has designed, developed and tested the F135 to deliver the most advanced fifth-generation fighter engine for the United States and its allies around the world.