The General Electric Rolls-Royce partnership to produce F-35 Joint Strike Fighter engines received a $2.5 billion contract to “transition the development engine into a long-term production program,” say GE officials. The team’s F136 engine is slated to make its first flight test on the JSF in 2010 and begin production delivery in 2012. Until then, the game belongs to Pratt & Whitney. After that, JSF customers will be able to select the engine of their choice.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.