A Pratt & Whitney senior official told DOD Buzz that the Pentagon could save big bucks if it would just issue the company a multi-year, performance-based logistics contract. Lawmakers have heard recent testimony about increased costs for the F-35 powerplant, the P&W F135—largely related to labor and supplier base issues—and, believing that competition would spawn savings, for years they have supported the General Electric Rolls-Royce F136 alternate engine over Pentagon objections. Warren Boley, head of P&W’s military engine division, reports DOD Buzz believes there’s no need to develop an alternate engine because “there are much more precise and cost-effective solutions to get the performance you want.”
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.