Pratt & Whitney Awarded $2.9B Contract Modification

A U.S. Department of Defense contract modification for nearly $2.9 billion will fund the continued production of fighter jet engines, spares, and modules by Pratt & Whitney, an RTX business.

In an announcement this week, the company said the contract calls for production of F135 engines, which power all three variants of Pratt’s F-35 Lightning II fifth generation fighter aircraft.

“This contract will enable our team to continue providing this critical capability to help the U.S. and its allies maintain air superiority for decades to come,” said Christopher Johnson, Pratt & Whitney vice president for the F135 program.

More specifically, the contract will fund conventional take-off and landing, carrier variant, and short take-off and vertical landing F135 engines for the U.S. and international customers, the company said.

According to the DOD, the modification “adds scope for the production and delivery of 141 F135 propulsion systems in support of Lot 18 F-35 aircraft production for the Joint Strike Fighter program for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, F-35 Cooperative Program Partners, and foreign military sales customers.”

It also includes spare engines, spare modules, program management, tooling, engineering and production support.

Production Work

“The combat-proven F135 engine delivers the power, safety, reliability, and low-observability to ensure operators can accomplish their most critical missions,” Johnson said.

“The F135 is ultimately an investment in mission assurance, providing the warfighters of today and tomorrow the technological edge to fight and win.”

About 30% of the production work will be performed in Connecticut at Pratt facilities in East Hartford (17.3%), Middletown (8%), Cromwell (3%), Manchester (1%), and Cheshire (1%).

The F135 program sustains more than 67,000 domestic jobs and 240 U.S. suppliers.

The work is expected to be completed in February 2028.

Pratt reports that the F135 program sustains more than 67,000 domestic jobs and 240 U.S. suppliers, and contributed more than $9.1 billion to the U.S. economy in 2024.

To date, Pratt & Whitney reports it has delivered more than 1,300 F135 production engines to a global enterprise that includes 20 allied nations.