Pratt & Whitney Adds Thrust to Pace of F135 Contract Negotiations

Paris Pratt & Whitney is working with the F-35 strike fighter program office to conclude contract negotiations on the next three lots of F-135 engines by year’s end, said Bennett Croswell, president of the company’s military engines sector. Those buys are low-rate initial production 6 for 36 F-135s, LRIP 7 for 41 engines, and LRIP 8 for 43 engines, Croswell told the Daily Report here on June 16 on the eve of the 50th Paris Air Show. “We submitted our LRIP 6 proposal last June and we just recently got our offer from the [F-35 program office] and we are negotiating that contract,” he said. “In about a month, we will deliver our LRIP 7 and LRIP 8 proposals, and we hope to get on contract for [them] by the end of the year,” he added. In the past, the F-35 program manager has complained about the pace of contract negotiations across the F-35 program. Helping to facilitate faster negotiations for the next engine lots is the company’s more sophisticated understanding of the F135’s costs, said Croswell. “We have delivered 100 production engines, so we just have a lot more data and information that we can share,” he said.